Change in perception
by Alena13
Summary: The Hogwarts staff and Harry and maybe later friends find the first Harry Potter book. Contains abuse! Severitus OOC! I just love them both! Main plot was done before, but never the way I wanted. Hope you will enjoy!
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone!**

I hope you aren't bored with this type of stories because than I have to ask you not to read this. Personally I enjoyed a lot of these stories, and before I knew about fanfiction I imagined how it would be reading with the Hogwarts staff... After reading many stories more ideas came up and I never found them in any published story like I have wanted it, so I decided to write my own one.

As I am not a native speaker I may have a lot of mistakes even with proofreading, so if you find any mistakes please forgive me and help to correct those. I would like to improve as much as I can.

_**Important**: I **don't** own these characters and the plot of the books, I only enjoy playing on the playground J. K. Rowling provided._

Uhu, I never wanted to be a writer of such long nonsense introductions but I couldn't help myself. Enjoy!

**Prologue**

It was the summer after Harrys second year and Harry tried to finish his list of chores his Uncle left him before he went to play golf with Mr Mason. He just moved to cut the hedges in the smoldering sun when he heard Uncle Vernons car pull into the driveway. "Oh shit", thought Harry, now he was in for it. It was never good to haven't finished everything, it could only be worse if Uncle Vernon had lost his game.

As it happened Vernon had lost his golf game and the trashing Harry got was one of the worst he ever had. Harry wished he could do magic without beeing expelled and chucked out of the only place he ever called home- Hogwarts. Then he could show his so called family what a 'freak' could do. Just as he thought he would pass out from the pain he felt a strange pull behind his navel.

Meanwhile Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout and Madam Pomfey all experienced similiar sensations, before they found themselves in a homely room with some couches near a fireplace and a dining table in he far corner. "Where are we? " , asked McGonagall. "Mhh, I guess we are in the Room of Requirement", Dumbledore answered with his twinkle in full force. Snape tried the doors leading of the room, only to find bedrooms and bathrooms. "Why can't we get out? Why are we here?" groweled Snape.

As on cue a bright flash appeared in the middle of the room with it appeared a note. Albus Dumbledore went and fetched the paper to read it to everyone in the room as the all sat down.

"_Hello Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey, I am Hogwarts and have asssembled you for a special reason. Others will join you as the time comes. So now as to why I have brought you here, I have produced 7 books of the school years of one Harry Potter. Don't grumble Severus, it is necessary."_

A growl could be heard from the Potions Master.

"_You will learn about his life in and out of Hogwarts and his way to defeat the Dark Lord. Yes, he will eventually win over Voldemort but with great losses. Many of our side will die. To prevent such I send you those books. I will let you go once you've read all of them. You should know that time will not process outside of these rooms, so when you're ready you will be back from where I have taken you now. _

_You may ask why you have to read about Harrys life and not just a report of the incidents to happen. But Harry is the key to Voldemorts destruction and all of you don't really know him. You had the chance to try for two years but yet you see the Savior or James Potter. You tried to treat him like everyone else and therfore neglected him more than any other student you had. And I hope with reading through those seven books you will learn who Harry really is and how to end this war without destroying unnecessary lifes and a nice side affect is that it is more interesting to read these actions unfold in a book than a report._

_I wish you a lot of fun and moments of great insight, so that all of us can live in peace._

_Your home, Hogwarts_

_Ps: Severus and Poppy, Harry will arrive in a few moments and you have to take care of him, his summer was everything but peaceful. You will find everything you need in the cabinet behind the largest couch."_

"Have to take care of him? What does the castle mean with it?" asked Poppy.

"Why do I have to stay here? I don't want to learn about the brats spoiled life!" Well, that was Severus.

After the ruckus died down another bright light appeared. With it came a groan and a pitiful whimper. A few seconds later all of the Hogwarts staff could see a cowering whimpering and bleeding Harry Potter in the middle of the room. Poppy was the first to come out of her shock and approached the boy while softly speaking to the child: "Hello Harry. You're at Hogwarts. I am going to help you now. Can you look up at me please?"

But Harry curled only further into a small ball and began to murmur in destress: "No, please Uncle Vernon. No more. I'll be good, I , please!"As he spoke the rest of the room came back to awareness and promptly went pale.

Snape moved forwards to help Poppy tend to the boy, still schocked about what he saw. "He can't be abused. No, it was just a one time occurence. He propably did something bad and couldn't see his own fault. Pampered little prince..."

But nevertheless he gently spoke to the boy and lastly moved him onto a couch, while Poppy bustled over to the cabinet to get the needed potions. Together they got Harry stabilized until he was sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"Thank Merlin", breathed McGonagall as Poppy and Severus both straightened up, after covering their charge with a blanket the room provided. "That should do" sighed the Healer as she sat down again beside Harrys head.

"Who did that? Why?" stuttered Sprout, who was still very white.

"He pleaded with his Uncle, so I would assume it was him" said Severus as he too sat on the couch. Dumbledore cleared his throat "Maybe it is time to start these books. There is a possibility that we can find out through those"

And with that he fetched the first book from the pile and gave a small smile: ""Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone" this should be interesting"

So, this was the first chapter! If you liked it, please review, if you didn't like it please help to write it better, if you found mistakes please write to me. If you absolutely hate the plot, I hope you find another story that suits you.

Hope to "see" you soon.

Alena13


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. This honour belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am only playing.

Thank you for your kind reviews. I will continue this story. I have prepared some chapters but after a while I will only get one out in a week. Hope you will enoy this chapter!

-Change in Perception-

**First Chapter: The Boy who lived**

'**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"What does he mean no such nonsense? Aren't they the family that took Potter in?" asked an irritated Snape.

"They are" was the short answer he received from the Headmaster.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. **

Flitwick frowned: "What are drills?"

A muggle machine to make holes in walls"

"Thanks Minnie."

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister,**

"Tuney" exclaimed Snape, "Potter lived with Petunia?" He risked a glance to the sleeping boy next to him _'I hope they changed_...'

**but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish**

Snort "That isn't even a word, is it?"

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what! How dare they!" came the irrate outburst of the Deputy Headmistress, "Harry was/is a fine child! He was like a grandson to me. Lily often visited when James was at work..." she trailed of.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"Most boring? Who would do that?"

"Vernon Dursley, apparently" sneered Snape

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.**

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.**

McGonagall had gone white. "It is that day," she whispered, "I was waiting for Albus to show up."

**What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

"We were nearly exposed on that day, people should think before they act," grumbled Flitwick.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at . Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people.**

"Charming man," huffed Pomona Sprout, who had a friendly nature as it comes to being Head of Hufflepuff.

**He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"**

" — **yes, their son, Harry —"**

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that… but all the same, those people in cloaks… **

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. "Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. **

**On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior?**

"No, that would be normal McGonagall behaviour," stage whisphered Madam Pomfrey.

McGonagall just threw her a stern look, much to everyones amusement.

**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Shan't!").**

"Disgusting behaviour! How can any responsible adult encourage such," Professor Flitwick exclaimed. He always taught his ravens proper etiquette as he thought it would befit knowledgeable persons to know how to behave in public.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:****"****And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" **"**Well, Ted," said the weatherman,**

"Is that Ted Tonks? Didn't he work as a muggle news teller at the time?"asked Dumbledore. "Yes," answered Sprout, "Nymphadora, his daughter, told me once in a house meeting.

**"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Severus was angry and sad: "How can anyone hate their siblings so much? Lily was devastated, she tried to rekindle their relationship a few times, especially after Harry was born" He didn't even realize he called Harry by his first name, much to the amusement of Albus.

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

"**So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"**Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… her crowd."**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. **

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? **

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it. **

Dumbledore looked sad and a little apprehensive. Should Harry really been that unwelcome in his 'home'? Had he misjudged the bond of family? He hoped not. But as he watched Harry stir slightly on the sofa in front of him, he wasn't so sure. Well, they would see.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them…**

**How very wrong he was.**

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

"Oh, I could feel it. I didn't really like the area myself. No magic and everything looked similiar"

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."** **He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"Actually it is a Deluminator, a special contraption of mine" Dumbledore told with a twinkle in his eyes.

**until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

With the exception of the tiny bundle on the couch the room began to laugh, even Severus couldn't suppress a grin.

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense." **

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years." **

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."****She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on.**

**"A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A what?" **

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"Only you Albus, only you" sighed Minerva.

Albus procurred a bag of said sweets: "Does anyone want one?" His eyes twinkled merrily as one after another declined.

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." **

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."** "**Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."**

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Ewww, TMI Headmaster," exclaimed Severus, as Madam Pomfrey blushed.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.** "**What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."**

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

Everyone looked sad and reminiscent as Albus read the last part. The witches could be seen dabbing at their eyes.

Severus swallowed hard. His Lily. He looked to the small boy on the couch who whimpered in his sleep. He remembered when he first met the boy, he didn't have the deep hatred he developed after Lily died and the boy survived. But as he now looked at the small, malnourished boy, he could remember the feeling as he first held him in his arms. Without noticing the startled looks from his colleagues he reached out and softly patted the boy on the back to soothe him from his nightmare.

To spare Severus the feeling of embarrassment that he would surely get when he noticed the looks on the others faces Dumbledore resumed reading.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.** **Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy.** **No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"**You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future —** **there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

Flitwick chortled at the thought.

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"**No problems, were there?"**

"**No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"**Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

"**Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. **

**He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. **

Poppy took a deep breath before she went into full "Dragon of the Hospital Prison"- mode, as Severus had christened her when he was a student at Hogwarts. Severus, like Harry, was dear to her as the weak always needed extra care that she was only too happy to give. She couldn't get children of her own, so she took the forgotten under her wing. The only reason for Severus to still be alive after naming her like this. Over the years she came to take pride in her nickname as it radiated power and care. Dragons were fierce protectors of their offsprings.

So in full Mama – dragon mode she yelled at Albus and Minerva: HOW COULD YOU LEAVE A ONE YEAR OLD CHILD DEFENSELESS ON A DOORSTEP AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER? IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY IT WAS COLD AND WET; NOT TO SPEAK OF ANIMALS OR THIEVES OR..."

The rest of her lecture was downed by Severus' hiss "Quiet Poppy, your scaring Harry!"

She sent a last glare at Albus and Minerva who looked thoroughly chastised but also concerned about their charge, before she too turned to Harry. Only to find him quivering in Severus arms.

"Shh, it's alright Harry, no one is angry at you. Shh, you're safe. It's alright," Severus tried to calm the bundle in his arms down.

It had all happened really fast as Poppy started to scream. Harry was startled awake, looked around the room with a panicked look, before rapidly curling in on himself, tighter than it seemed possible, even for a small boy like him. When Severus saw him curling in on himself he took him into his arms without any intention in doing so and then hissed at the Healer.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to frighten you"

Slowly with many soothing words and rubbing his back, Harry could be convinced to poke his head out of his safe cocoon he had in his Potion Masters arms and robes. As he became aware of who exactly was his pillow, hanky and shelter he became rigid again.

"I'm sorry professor," he stuttered with a blush and tried to move out of the arms still holding him, but Snape only gripped him harder, which made him look at the man with a tearful and frightened expression.

Snape gulped. He just did what his heart- yes he had one- had told him and it felt right, but how to tell the boy? 'Hey, yes I hated you for two years, belittled you and bullied you, but now I remember your mother and see you aren't spoiled like your father and yes, I have a heart and would like to get to know you?'

"It's alright. It was my decision to take you on my lap. You have done nothing wrong," Severus tried to sooth the boy again. He couldn't think about something else to say at the moment. He had to sort through his own feeling first.

After a few minutes he settled Harry back down on the couch between himself and Poppy although Harry scooted farther to Severus's side than Poppy's, still wary after the Medi-witch's outburst.

"Okay, everything alright my boys?" asked the Headmaster observing with madly twinkling eyes their interaction. At their nods he grabbed the book again and continued to read.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… **

Here Harry could hear a low grumble in Snapes chest and he turned to him with a questioning gaze. He didn't know why they all looked so sad. Surely they knew what happened at his so called home. Heck, even his Hogwarts letter knew exactly were he lived...

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"**

"That was the end of the chapter" said Dumbledore and looked over his staff and only pupil who was red in the face. He really didn't seem to like his fame.

"Who wants to read next?"

"I will" answered Minerva and took the book from Albus hands.

She cleared her throat once and began reading.

-C-h-a-n-g-e-i-n-P-e-r-c-e-p-t-i-o-n-

So guys, this was it for today. I hope it was okay. It is kind of hard to settle a relationship between Harry and Snape without rushing into it and without drawing it out for too long.

I hope I get another chapter out tomorrow, if not it will come on Friday. In between I am at university and there is no time for it then.

See you soon,

Alena13

I have changed some mistakes and improved the format a bit. Thanks for all your help in the reviews. Especially Dark Serpent Cat, as she found many mistakes. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Harry Potter stories. This honour belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am only playing.

Thank you for you're reviews. I tried to heed your tips and changed some parts. I hope you enjoy. :o)

Ps: I'm still not a native speaker, so please leave a note and don't be angry if something is wrong and/or you cannot understand something because I used a word in the wrong context etc.

To Steinkrauz: I posted this again and made the corrections you suggested. Hope I got most of my others as well. Sometimes you really should sleep over everything you write Thanks for your help.

**Second chapter: The Vanishing glass**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.**

**Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bobble hats - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,** **and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,** **being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"What did they do, locked you in a cupboard for ten years in fear of their reputation?" asked Poppy disdainfully, not noticing the flinch Harry gave.

Severus felt it but choose not to comment on it at the moment.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake, and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.**

**"Up! Get up! Now!"** **Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"Urg, terrible way to start the day. Tuney's voice." sneered Severus.

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Wow, you have a good memory"

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. **

**And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."** **Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

**"Nothing, nothing ..." Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten?**

"Yeah, how could I have forgotten precious Dudders birthday" mumbled Harry under his breath.

**Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,**

"Harry you should keep your room tidier"scolded Pomona Sprout

"Yes, ma'am" Harry said out of habit, not going to explain that his cupboard was clean, but he liked the company of at least one friendly creature in the house.

**put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. **

The silent that fell above them was loud. It took a few moments for the occupants of the room to progress the information just given before they were able to react in any way. Albus' eyes were full of sorrow and regret, with no twinkle apparent. Minerva blanched, glared at the book and then her eyes fell on Harry who had pressed himself closer to Severus, as the Medi-witch on the other end of the couch growled and screeched about the Dursleys. Severus too wanted to rant as well as destroy things, but the warm pressure against his side kept him from it and he contented himself with wrapping an arm around the quivering child and glaring at his headmaster who had left the child with these guardians and had reassured him that there was no need to intervene.

Pomona gazed tearfully at the small Gryffindor next to the Slytherin Head "I'm sorry Harry, I didn't know."

"It's alright. I lived there for ten years and no one ever bothered, it is no big deal"

"How can you even say that? You should have had your own room, as any normal child!"

"That is the point, isn't it Professor? I'm not normal. I'm a freak. Even under the freaks I'm a freak"

"Harry James Potter! You are not a freak! You are a pefectly normal child, who deserves nothing of the treatment you received with these horrible muggles." Minerva, who couldn't stand Harrys dejected self- perception, intervened.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"Oh my, I don't know what exactly it is but it seems to be really expensive" Flitwick mused.

"Yes, it is Filius" confirmed Severus" if you like I will explain it to you later."

As he saw the astonished looks he was receiving from Pomona, Filius and Harry he continued: "I am a half-blood, even if I detested my father I have never completely broken the bonds to the muggle- world."

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punch-bag was Harry, **

"And his parents probably encouraged such behavior" sighed Minerva resigned.

Poppy just continued to growl and looked very much like an angry dragon.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.** **Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

Poppy frowned:"That certainly had something to do with your height, as both James and Lily were slightly above average height as they first started Hogwarts, and they both reached over 6ft when they graduated. Perhaps some nutrition- potions are in order, Severus."

Receiving a curt nod from the Potion master who looked sadly down on Harry: "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Harry looked astonished:"Why?"

"Why?" he choked," I made your life hell the last two years at school all because I assumed and was too stubborn to see behind James face on you!"

"It's alright" mumbled Harry.

"No, it is not! And not only I have wronged you, we all did. No one saw how small you were, no one saw the signs of abuse. And you were in our care for two years!"

The others all looked guilty, for it was true, they saw what they have wanted to see: a happy, healthy and brave boy-who-lived. But in reallity he was just a boy, abused by his caretakers- malnourished and too small- with fears to do right by everyone, to live up to the boy everyone saw in him.

Albus was even more ashamed as he accused his potion master of being narrow-minded and now he saw that he was equally guilty.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes.** **He wore round glasses held together by a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

Despite knowing the glasses were repaired, everyone looked at them, making Harry duck his had in Severus' ample robes, blushing furiously.

**The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his aunt was how he had got it.**

"I really don't like it anymore", Harry said, trying to hide it with his fringe.

**"In the car crash when your parents died,"she had said.**

"They lied to you?"

**"and don't ask questions."** **Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

Flitwick spluttered at this. After all asking questions was like the first rule in learning and therefore like breathing for every Ravenclaw.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.** **About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

**Harry was frying eggs **

"They made you cook?" asked Albus.

"Yeah, I had to earn my keep someway and you already read about it" the child said in a 'duh' voice.

"Watching the bacon and actually cooking something makes a difference- earn your keep?"he rasped out,"They got a monthly alimony for their raising you!"

"Maybe we should have a look into it. To find out what they really did with the money."

"Trust me, I will Pomona," said Albus.

**by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not muck neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

The room snorted while Harry grinned.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley meanwhile was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Thirty-six..."gasped Minerva,"What kid receives thirty-six presents? Not even the most spoiled kid I know receives that much."

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

**"All right then, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

Poppy frowned disapprovingly and swore to keep an eye on his eating habits.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another _two_ presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? _Two_ more presents. Is that all right?"**

"Way to raise your child" muttered Poppy

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty ..."**

"This child can't even count! How is it Harry, that you turned out so good?" asked Filius.

Harry only shrugged and blushed.

**"Thirty nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair**.

"Your 'atta boy' can't even count to thirty-nine!"

**At that moment the telephone rang** **and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction. **

"Someone should teach them etiquette!"

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend to, adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Theres nothing wrong with cats" sniffed Minerva, in a very cat like manner that made her colleagues smile amused.

"I'm sorry professor. I like cats."

"And Minerva,"added Severus," looking at pictures in a house smelling like the one vegetable most kids despise, with an old lady, while knowing your so called family enjoys a day would make even adults like you and me hate this place."

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.** **Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, My Paws and Tufty again.**

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"He has a name!"

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

**"On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.)**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"Well, they surely put nothing past you", remarked Filius.

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car ..."**

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone ..."**

Severus choked:"What are you? A dog?" "No, a dog is wanted"whispered Harry, which caused the adults to look at him with saddened expressions and Severus to tighten his hold on Harry before he whispered: "But you are wanted, Harry, very much so." in his ear.

**Dudley began to cry loudly.** **In fact he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

**"Dinky Duddydums,** **don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I ... don't ... want ... him ... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"What a nasty child!"

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.**

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.** **He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.**

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.** **Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"We will make sure to take you on some outings these holidays, Harry" said Minerva after taking a deep breath.

"And Albus, under no circumstances will he go back to these horrible muggles, if he has to camp on my sofa so be it. Even if I can't see that outcome" she added with a smile to the unlikely pair on the couch in front of her.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,** **I'm warning you now, boy -** **any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"He better didn't" threatened Pomona Sprout.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly ..."** **But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'.** **Dudley laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and his Sellotaped glasses.**

Severus swallowed hard, it sounded like his life as a pupil, always an outcast because of his appearance... thanks to Tobias Snape...

**Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,** **even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"Petunia should have known. She grew up with Lily and your mum made amazing things happen," Severus told the boy next to him, who smiled happily at getting some information on his mother.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

Filius released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, alongside with the other staff members.

**On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.** **Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual** **when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"You apparated!" exclaimed Flitwick.

"Or flown," added the Headmaster,"Lily was quite good at it, if I remember correctly." Receiving a nod from his Potion Master.

"I think I flew, it was like a really fast and high jump," told Harry.

**The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) **

**was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

Poppy sighed. That was just sad, it wouldn't have inconvenienced the Dursleys that much to treat Harry equally to their son (Merlin beware to have Harry as a twin to that boy) and it would have made one childhood a happy one.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

"He seems to really like you then," said Filius, to lighten the mood somewhat.

**This morning, it was motorbikes. "... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

Severus groaned: "That wasn't the wisest thing to say." Harry ducked his head and was relieved when he felt the arm his professor had still around him tightened a little.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"**

**Dudley and Piers snickered.**

**"I know they don't," said Harry. **"**It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even in a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with people. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then,** **because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly.**

"It was pretty good,"remarked Harry.

Dumbledore seemed to think about something before a bag of sweets appeared on the table in between their seats. Unsurprisingly most of them where lemon drops, but there were also some of the mentioned lollies. Albus picked one up and handed it to Harry who beamed at him as if receiving a christmas present. He thanked his Headmaster before unwrapping the sweet and leaning contented back into Severus' embrace.

The other adults smiled sadly at the enthusiasm the boy showed for such a little gift but were also surprised by the behaviour of the two youngest members.

**It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Severus snorted:"That's an insult to Gorillas."

His remark got chuckles from the others. "I didn't know you had some sense of humour under your sarcasm,"chuckled Pomona.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys** **so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

**They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Oho"

**After lunch they went to the reptile house.** **It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.** **Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.** **It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car, and crushed it into a dustbin -** **but at the moment it didn't look in the mood.**

**In fact, it was fast asleep.** **Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils**.

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered**, **Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"Good for the Snake," huffed Poppy.

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard for a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up - at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were level with Harry's. It winked.**

"Snakes don't have eyelids,"perceived the Ravenclaw Head of House.

Dumbledore though seemed to have an answer for this: "I would assume that from Harry's perspective as a parselmouth they seem to be able to wink as a means to express their language."

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."**

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously. "Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.** **The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"I think it is good, that we have been forewarned. That Harry is a Parselmouth I mean, oherwise this would have been a great shock," said Minerva.

"That's true, now it is rather interesting and funny to hear about,"concured Filius.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**

**"DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could. "Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.** **Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

To Harrys surprise he could feel a low rumble in Severus' chest.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.** **Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"That is powerful accidental magic, Harry," said Albus,"most children just change the colour on their toys, or banish things across the room."

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor - people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.** **as the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, " Brazil, here I come ... Thanksss, amigo."** **The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"I wonder if she ever made it to Brazil" mused Harry.

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

**But, worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?" **

"Oh, shut up brat!" exclaimed Poppy to the amusement of Harry.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals,"** **before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"No meals! No wonder you look so scrawny," said Poppy indignantly, making Harry blush.

"Mhh, maybe we should eat after this chapter? It will be good for all of us to know that you have something in your stomach," mused Minerva.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking in to the kitchen for some food. He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died.**

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

The adults gasped:"You remember that?"

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where the green light came from.**

**He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"I have some of your mother, if you wish we can have a look at them sometime," offered Severus.

Minerva added:"And I should find some of your father and his friends, you are also welcome to look at these."

Harrys whole face lit up:"That would be great, Professors!" he exclaimed.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.**

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

"No sense for the danger of exposure"

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking woman dressed in all green waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple cloak had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day then walked away without another word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"So, that was chapter two" said Minerva sadly," I do hope they are getting better. Who will read next?"

"I will," offered Poppy,"but I really think we should eat something beforehand."

And as on cue the table in the corner was filled with the favourite meal of everyone.

During the meal Poppy monitored Harry. What she saw didn't make her happy. He seemed enthusiastic at first about the food, but it seemed he couldn't handle as much as he ( and she) would have liked and after a few bites he pushed his plate away.

As it was nearing 7pm she guessed he would be asleep after another chapter or two and then she and the other professors could discuss what to do.

After they had finished they settled again on the couches. Severus spread ablanket over Harry who was tired after the events of the day. Dumbledore smiled at them, before giving the book to Poppy, who saddled back and began to read.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

Hello guys, next chapter is up!

I hope it will fullfill your expectations.

Thanks to all who took the time to review the last chapter.

I know I have made some mistakes and some of you took the time to help me with them. I will correct them during the next few days.

Enjoy!

- _Change in Perception_-

After they had finished they settled again on the couches. Severus spread a blanket over Harry who was tired after the events of the day. Dumbledore smiled at them, before giving the book to Poppy, who saddled back and began to read.

**Chapter 3: Letters from no one**

"Is that your Hogwarts letter?" asked Pomona. At Harrys nod McGonagall frowned:"We had to send over a thousand."

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"And how long was this exactly?" snarled Poppy.

"About two months?" said Harry shakily. At their gasps he shrank back a little and hugged himself.

"Two month in a cupboard!" The Headmaster was once again glared at, for making them all believe Harry was safe.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That of course makes perfect sense," drawled Serverus.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting.**

(Angry looks were beeing passed around) Severus shuddered. He was reminded of his childhood and really didn't like it.

Harry noticed his shudder and looked up, causing Severus to sigh and explain: "Your father and his friends had a similiar game; they named it 'Snivellous- Hunting'. As you can imagine I hated your father for it and transfered it to you. That you have a knack for getting into mischief did not make you look any better in my eyes."

Harry didn't really know what to do with this knowledge. 'His father, a bully? But everyone except Snape spoke so fondly of him...'

While he mused, Poppy continued to read:

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.**

**Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High,** **the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**"**No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"Wow, so you do know how to choose your battles, and the statement was quiet Slytherin like...," the Potion Master drawled surprised but also with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Minerva saw this twinkle that was so much like Albus' that she gasped.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats,** **orange knickerbockers,** **and flat straw hats called boaters.**

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life. **

"Wonderful training! Do they want their students to become murderers?"

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

Harry, now remembering his cousin's outfit, bursted into fits of laughter, much to the amusement of the teachers. It took Harry some time to calm down again but it caused the atmosphere to lighten considerably.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

Filius grumbled at that.

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"**Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"Uhu, if I remember Tuney correctly she won't comprehend sarcasm..." said Severus.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue.**

"Again, you show that you can choose your battles. Why do you always seek danger here?" asked Minerva.

"I don't go looking for danger, it usually finds me! And everyone expected me to be the brave, happy go lucky Gryffindor, who does not have fears."

It took a moment for the adults to realise that Harry just showed a mask in his daily life.

**He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"**Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"They actually told their son to do something?"

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the mail, Harry."**

"Ah, that makes more sense. And he said your name!" added Filius.

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"To encourage a child to hurt a child, how dare he!" Poppy exclaimed.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — _a letter for Harry_.**

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.**

**Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.**

**There was no stamp.**

"Stamp?" asked Pomona.

"A little piece of paper for which you pay, that you glue to your letter, which will tell the postman that the delivery is paid for, " tried Harry to explain. Even with being Rons friend for two years now he was always surprised how difficult it was to explain something simple like stamps so that a wizard with no knowkledge of the muggle word would understand them.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_.**

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"Now, that makes me nearly feel bad for him," said Minerva dryly.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"**

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter,** **which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"**That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon,**

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"**

"They love drama, don't they?"

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. **

Gasps could be heard, and the adults imagined what would have happened if _they _had tried to do that with their fathers, before shuddering and focusing back on the text.

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"_**I **_**want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Oho, that reminds me of Lily before I was getting a tongue lashing. She always stilled a few seconds before her temper got the best of her," remembered Severus.

**"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"See?"

"No one disagreed with you Severus," chuckled Pomona.

**"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them.**

"This man..., this, this thing shouldn't be allowed," spluttered Poppy.

**Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…"**

"**But —"**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

The Headmaster was really upset by this, as it was a bold reminder of his sister Ariana. It seemed he really was lucky to have Harry here as such a fine young boy.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly.**

"**I have burned it."**

"**It was **_**not **_**a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.**

Harry smiled at this. At least the spiders were always friendly. The professors were astonished to see that smile, while they grimaced.

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"Hopefully," growled Severus.

"**Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.**

"Second?" asked Filius in apparent disbelieve.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: **

"Four! These people belong to prison!"

**one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbour's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"A pity, they were really good," said Harry.

"What, you actually read?" asked Severus half in fun, half in serious doubt Harry would touch a book.

The look, Harry sent him, would have some first years wet their pants, thought Severus irritated.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't _want _him in there… I _need _that room… make him get out…"**

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.** **Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.**

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall.**

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it.**

"Wow."

**They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —'"**

"If he wanted to read the letter, why did he shout?" asked Pomona.

"Dudley is not really bright...," tried Harry to explain.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"**Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley — go — just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door —**

"**AAAAARRRGH!"**

"Let it be your uncle," whispered Severus malisciously. Harry just grinned.

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something _alive_!**

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want —" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day.**

**He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

"As if that would keep us away," said Filius with a hind of pride.

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up."**

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"Mental"

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

"**Who on earth wants to talk to **_**you **_**this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Try the whole wizarding world," laughed Minerva.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today —"**

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one —**

"**Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"Grrr..." snarled Severus,"keep your hands away."

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. **

Poppy looked like she would like to go to the Dursley's and whack them over the head.

**By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering…**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day.**

"That is not an appropriate breakfast!" surprisingly it wasn't Poppy this time but Filius, who thought breakfast the most important meal of the day.

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Please, see that something is wrong!" pleaded Minerva.

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"Daddy (expletive) has gone mad a looong time ago, Dudders," said Harry.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

Severus twitched.

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**."**

**Monday. **

**This reminded Harry of something. If it _was _Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"How... we will make sure you get better birthdays from today on," promised Severus. Even his birthdays were a lot better than that.

The others agreed and were thinking about what they really knew about the boy, in order to get him something he would like.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"That is no house for children to be!"

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

"I shudder to think what they could contain," mumbled Albus.

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

The adults twitched, but Harry didn't look too concerned.

"That's about the amount you normally got?" asked Severus incredulous.

A short nod was his feared answer.

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.**

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail.**

**Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. **

**She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

Poppy waved her wand over Harry, for the moment not realising that this happened two years ago.

"Ehm, Poppy?" asked Severus hesitantly, "you do know that any cold he has gotten from this, would have to be over by now?"

"Upps, sorry dear," Poppy blushed.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds… twenty… ten… nine — maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him**

— **three… two… one…**

**BOOM.**

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"I hope it is who I think it is," whispered Minerva anxiously.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still do not own Harry Potter, neither the characters not the story. It belongs to J.. I am only playing.

So: Next chapter. I hope it fullfills your expectations.

Enjoy!

- Change in Perception-

"Who wants to read next?"

"I would like to," said the Ravenclaw Head of House and after been given the book, began to read right away:

**CHAPTER FOUR - THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS.**

**BOOM. **

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly. **

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. **

"That I would like to have seen," chuckled Minerva,"a skidding whale."

**He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"He brought a rifle with him? Where two young boys were?"

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!" **

**There was a pause. Then - SMASH! The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Way to make Hagrid look dangerous," said the Headmaster.

"Well, with his loud banging, being able to knock down the entire door and his height, as well as all his hair he really looked frightening.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh. It's not been an easy journey..."**

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"Oh Hagrid," sighed Poppy.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."**

"First time I ever heard something about my parents," piped Harry in, making his teachers smile sadly.

'Why couldn't he look a little more like Lily?' thought Severus.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise. "I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"Go Hagrid!" cheered Harry, for now he could fully enjoy the moment.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

**"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.**

"There is a lot of green involved here: the letter, the cake... I would have thought, Minerva, that you would write to your lion in red?" sneered the Potion Master.

"I like green, and Professor McGonagall does, too," interrupted Harry.

Minerva was startled: "How do you know my favourite colour is green?"

"You have a lot of green stuff, most of your robes are green and you often write in green, when you have things that are not school related."

In an afterthought and after gathering all his courage he added cheekily: "Maybe you should have been in Slytherin?"

"Mister Potter!" she exclaimed, but took care to smile friendly after a moment. She knew that it seemed strange that she prefered green over her own house- colour.

"Maybe, we should just be lucky that our dear Severus doesn't favourite gold and red" laughed Albus and would be dead if looks could kill.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you."**

"Harry!"

"I'm sorry!" he shrinked back a bit under the stern look his Head of House sent in his direction.

"Minerva, I do not condone bad behaviour, but I have to take Harrys side for a moment. If Hagrid would have appeared like that when I was eleven, I would have forgotten my manners too," defended Pomona.

**The giant chuckled. "True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

**"What about that tea then, eh." he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. **

Filius shook his head fondly, while he didn't think that role models such as themselves as teachers should drink in front of the students he knew Hagrid and after he had heard of the miserable weather... well he would have liked a swig himself.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." **

**The giant chuckled darkly. "Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry." **

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. **

**Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." **

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

**"Er - no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"You have no reason to be sorry, dear," Pomona assured.

**"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.**

**"Now wait jus' one second!" He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut.**

**The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"**

"Well, he does know how to get into trouble," said Snape.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad. "I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." **

"See Severus, he does know more than to get into trouble,"said Minerva to aid her little lion.

"If you are naming maths as first subject, maybe you should take arithmancy instead of Divination?" asked Albus, who had looked through the third year elections the moment he was sent to the reading.

"I couldn't really decide, as I don't know really what each subject contains, so I just took everything that Ron took."

Pomona frowned: "Couldn't one of the older students help you?"

"Percy Weasley tried, but he was not really good and otherwise I only know the Quidditch team and they aren't really into their studies."

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world." **

**"What world?" Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

As did Filius, who began to lough madly when everyone jumped and then began to glare at him.

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

**"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."**

**"My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

**"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh are." he said finally.**

"That sounded really weird," commented Harry.

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

**"You never told him. Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him. I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years."**

**"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

**"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. **

"Hagrid!" Pomona could understand him saying it, but it isn't good saying something like this near impressionable children.

**"Harry - yer a wizard."**

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"I'm a _what_?" gasped Harry.**

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be. An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to **

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Floor**

**Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea.**

**He pulled out the letter and read: **

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**Deputy Headmistress**

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"Brilliant first question, Harry," said the Ravenclaw Head-of-House.

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment.**

**With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

I can barely read it the right way up was a repeated thought.

**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**

**Given Harry his letter**_._

**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**

**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**

**Hagrid**

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

Chuckles were heard throughout the room.

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

**"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

'Stamp out- for the second time...' Albus grew worried, but was nevertheless happy the others didn't seem to have noticed.

**"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard." **

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was. Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak!"**

"Lily wasn't the 'freak' in the family," growled Severus angrily. The others nodded and Harry smiled slightly. He really liked this side of his Professor.

"**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up. You told me they died in a car crash!"**

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, **

and Filius. The others all grimaced and rubbed their ears.

**jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!" **

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"I would have been too,"said Minerva, "to have to explain that... I really wouldn't have liked to change roles with Hagrid."

**"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'." He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

**"Well, its best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..." He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"**

**"Who?"**

**"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does." **

**"Why not?" **

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..." Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"He won't say it. Hagrid normally does what I ask of him and no matter how often I asked he never did say 'Voldemort'," said Albus with conviction.

Harry grinned inwardly.

**"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

**"Nah -can't spell it. All right - Voldemort."**

The Headmaster's eyes widened in disbelieve. The others just grinned widely.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right."**

"**Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway."**

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side."**

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -" Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."**

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em.** **An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead. That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry."**

"Wonderful, famous for being without parents, famous for something I can't even remember!" Harry ranted.

Despite seeing Harry in another light, Severus was still shocked. He thought that Harry enjoyed getting attention. It seemed he had gotten it all wrong with the boy.

"**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts** **- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived." **

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before - and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Minerva gasped: "You shouldn't have to remember it!"

Severus pulled Harry into a hug, thinking how it must be to remember that, even more so with the knowledge your mother died with this laughter. Lily.

Harry wasn't exactly used to hugs by adults but found it quite easy to melt into it, for once being just a kid.

As Harry fisted one hand in Severus' robes, said man leaned down and nuzzled his hair before placing a chaste kiss on the little head.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

**"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. **

**Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured.**

Poppy was close to spitting fire. Of course, after seeing in what condition Harry arrived this shouldn't surprise them any more but hearing about it is something else entirely.

**- and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion - asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"**

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... " **

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"Hahaha," if this represents your imagination Harry you are one lucky boy, wheezed Filius between laughter. "Death: through pink umbrella."

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

**"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"Never fear the name, Harry," scolded Albus lightly,"Hagrid has to learn that nothing bad comes from it."

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?**

**"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it.**

**People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back."**

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"No, that was my mum."

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

**A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard. If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"Sadly it doesn't work like it,"sighed Severus.

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

**"Not a wizard, eh. Never made things happen when you was scared or angry." Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it. Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

**"See." said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Uhu"

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

**"Haven't I told you he's not going." he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"**

**"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad."**

"**His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-" **

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"Now he has done it," said Pomona pleased,"no matter if Albus is right or wrong, Hagrid always defends him. Loyal to fault sometimes."

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"**

"See?"

"We never daubted you, Pomona," smiled Filius.

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

"Fitting, even if morally arguable."

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard. "Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Well, he got that right, and voiceless too. Maybe we should tutor him privately,now that Hagrids name is cleared he should be allowed to use a wand,"mused Minerva.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

**"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

**"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

**"Why were you expelled?"**

"Harry! That's personal," chided Poppy.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be, if Hagrid doesn't want to talk about something you will find yourself pretty fast with a new topic," told Albus.

Harry smiled. After two years of knowing Hagrid he knew this of course, but it was nice to be defended for once instead of accused.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"That wasn't a good idea," worried Pomona," Hagrid's coat is pretty heavy."

**"You can kip under that,"he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"Well, at least it is warm," mused Poppy.

"This was it, the next chapter is called 'Diagon Alley'. Who want's to read?"

"I think it is my turn," drawled Severus, before summoning the book.

He tucked Harry, who was getting sleepy, to his side, making sure the blanket covered him. He rather enjoyed the warm feeling and was surprised at himself about this.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Still, I don't own the story, the charakters... nothing of this, all J.K. Rowlings work, an excellant one, I might add!

Hey guys!

I'm sooo sorry it took me so long to update. Maybe one or two of you saw it on my profile: I had exams and term papers for university to finish. Yesterday, was the last and I am finally free for the next weeks!

Thank you all for your reviews! I can't believe it: 53 reviews for my little work, your awesome people! I just hope I don't disappoint you.

Have fun reading!

Love, Alena

- Change in perception-

Severus cleared his throat and began to read:

**Chapter Five: Diagon Alley**

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight. **

**_It was a dream, _he told himself firmly. _I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard. _**

"Your outlook on life wasn't really good, was it?" mused Minerva.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. **

**_And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door_, Harry thought, his heart sinking. **

**But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream. **

**Tap. Tap. Tap. **

"**All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up." **

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. **

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. **

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat. **

"**Don't do that." **

"It wants to be paid,"said Filius unnecessarily as Harry knew it _now._

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat. **

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl —" **

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa. **

"He won't know how! Hagrid is really a bit daft sometimes," declaired Pomona.

Harry, who was really tired by now, choose to not say that it already happened. It was quite amusing really, to watch how the adults discussed everything as if it was happening in this very moment.

"**What?" **

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." **

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing _but _pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags… **

**finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. **

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. **

"**Knuts?" **

"**The little bronze ones." **

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. **

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched. **

"Oh really, couldn't he have done it a bit earlier?"

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." **

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture. **

Severus looked at Harry: "You sure have odd comparisons."

Harry just shrugged.

"**Um — Hagrid?" **

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots. **

"**I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night… he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." **

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?" **

"**But if their house was destroyed —" **

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither." **

"**Wizards have **_**banks**_**?" **

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins." **

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding. **

"_**Goblins**_**?" **

"This is why I love and hate introducing muggleborn witches and wizards into the magical world. On the one hand the awe and wonder, the thirst for information and their eagerness to explore everything, then on the other and the literally endless questions, and astonishingly they come up with new ones which haven't been asked before every year," told Minerva.

"Why didn't you visit me, Professor? Wouldn't you have been a better instructor than Hagrid?"

"Probably, Harry. But as you turned eleven during the summer hols, I wasn't able to come and Hagrid was more than willing to step in for me."

"**Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. **

"**He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you**

— **gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see."**

"**Got everythin'? Come on, then." **

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm. **

"**How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. **

"**Flew," said Hagrid. **

"That makes for a nice mental image,"chuckled Filius.

"_**Flew**_**?" **

"**Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh." **

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying. **

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?" **

Filius shook his head: "Albus, I believe you should talk to Hagrid. This could go seriously wrong one day." Albus nodded his assent.

"**Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. **

"Understandable,"said Filius.

**Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land. **

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked. **

"**Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat." **

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the _Daily Prophet_. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life. **

"One should always be able to ask questions, within reason of course. It may have been more considerate if Hagrid didn't read the newspaper," mused Pomona.

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page. **

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself. **

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. **

**So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice." **

"It is better that way," added Albus with a twinkle in his eyes, "I don't want to be Minister, but I don't mind helping."

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?" **

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country." **

"**Why?" **

"_**Why? **_**Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone." **

"Thank God, that the ministry does a bit more than that," chuckled Filius.

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. **

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?" **

"**Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons **_**at Gringotts?" **

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon." twice**

"**You'd **_**like **_**one?" **

"Sadly, yes," mumbled Pomona. How often Hagrid had told her that she didn't know.

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go." **

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets. **

"A reason why we should make Muggle- studies obligatory for students from magic families," said Minerva.

Filius nodded and added: "That, and Wizarding traditions and etiquette for the Muggle-borns."

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. **

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket. **

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need." **

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read: **

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY **_

_**UNIFORM **_

_**First-year students will require: **_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) **_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear **_

Severus snorted:"Or not"

"It's just a tradition and the first years look really cute with them,"smiled Minerva, making the others chuckle.

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) **_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) **_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags **_

_**COURSE BOOKS **_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following: **_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk **_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot **_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling **_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch **_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore **_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger **_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander **_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble **_

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT **_

_**1 wand **_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) **_

_**1 set of glass or crystal phials **_

_**1 telescope set **_

_**1 brass scales **_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad **_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS **_

"**Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud. **

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid. **

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow. **

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops. **

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? **

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him. **

"Yes, you can say a lot about Hagrid and you shouldn't tell him your deepest secrets, not that he would knowingly tell anyone, but he is loyal and trustworthy.

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place." **

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. **

Albus nodded.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside. **

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. **

Severus snorted: "That was something Lily told me too. Somehow Tom hasn't changed."

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?" **

"**Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle. **

Everyone thought that Harry was asleep by then and were therefore surprised to hear him groan: "And here it all starts..."

"**Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this — can this be —?" **

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. **

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter… what an honor." **

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. **

"**Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back." **

Harry groaned again and buried his face in Severus stomach, while the man gently stroked his hair. Minerva and Albus looked at each other with a happy smile adorning both their faces.

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming. **

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron. **

"**Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last." **

"**So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud." **

"**Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter." **

"**Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." **

"**I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop." **

"**He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" **

"No doubt, Harry, one of your greatest fans," chuckled Albus, his eyes twinkling in full force.

**Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. **

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. **

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts." **

Harry growled and the adult faces grew dark.

"**P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." **

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" **

"**D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. **

"**N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. **

**At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble. **

"**Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry." **

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. **

**Hagrid grinned at Harry. **

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"**Is he always that nervous?" **

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. **

"That he had. At one time though," said Filius.

**He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. **

**Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?" **

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can. **

"**Three up… two across…" he muttered."Right, stand back, Harry." **

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. **

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. **

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley." **

"One of my best memories," murmurred Harry into the stomach of his Professor. The teachers didn't know wether to be happy at the good memory or cry that seeing the Alley was one of the best.

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. **

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. **

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first." **

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. **

Harry shuddered maybe not eight, this year he had seen quite enough eight eyes.

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…" **

"Indeed, they are..." grumled Severus.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —" **

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon… **

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid. **

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was — **

"**Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them: **

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed **_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed, **_

_**For those who take, but do not earn, **_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn. **_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors **_

_**A treasure that was never yours, **_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware **_

_**Of finding more than treasure there. **_

"**Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid. **

Minerva disapproved: "As is a poem would terrify necomers. I doubt that most muggle-born firstyears would realize what the Goblins can do."

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter. **

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe." **

"**You have his key, sir?" **

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. **

**The goblin wrinkled his nose. **

"Ugh, I would too," complained Minerva, which drew chuckles from her colleagues. A bleary eyed Harry looked confused at them.

"Harry, you now that your Head of House Animagus form is a cat, right? Well, some traits of the Animagus form always find a way into the human shape. Minerva has absolutely no love for dogs or anything dog related," explained Albus.

**Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals. **

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. **

**The goblin looked at it closely. **

"**That seems to be in order." **

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen." **

**The goblin read the letter carefully. **

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!" **

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall. **

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that." **

"And that was all that was needed to get your attention," said Albus amused.

Harry meanwhile had cuddled back into Severus' frame and was drifting into the land of nod. For the first time he felt totally safe, warm and not in any pain.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off. **

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. **

"That attempt wasn't too bad. I suppose they built in a few extra turns just to confuse us," mused Pomona.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering. **

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late — they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. **

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid.**

The Ravenclaw Head shook his head: "Well, I guess it is one way to explain..."

"**An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick." **

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling. **

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. **

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid. **

**All Harry's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. **

**Albus lowered his head. 'How hadn't he noticed this?'**

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? **

**And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. **

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag. **

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." **

**He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?" **

"**One speed only," said Griphook. **

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck. **

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. **

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away. **

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook. **

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked. **

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. **

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least — but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. **

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask. **

"Really?" asked Severus, but seeing the preteen laying on his lap he understood that Harry had his mask perfected and he, spy and Head of Slytherin House, fell right for it.

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid. **

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had. **

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts."**

"Oh no, Harry Potters first day back in the magical world and Hagrid leaves him alone..." Pomona wasn't amused.

**He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous. **

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. **

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact." **

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face** **was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. **

"Uhu, what I heard from my godson, this wasn't a good encounter."

"**Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?" **

"**Yes," said Harry. **

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. **

**He had a bored, drawling voice. **

"**Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." **

Neither of the teachers was amused.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"**Have **_**you **_**got your own broom?" the boy went on. **

"**No," said Harry. **

"**Play Quidditch at all?" **

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. **

"_**I **_**do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute. **

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" **

"Severus! You would do well in talking to your godson. I understand why you protect your snakes, but not all of us are unworthy by being in another house!" Pomona always treid to be fair with everyone, badger, snake, lion or raven, therefore she took unfairness hard even more so if it was against her house, which she taught to be nice to everyone.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting. **

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in. **

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts." **

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" **

'He is nothing of the sort,' Dumbledore corrected.

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second. **

"Well, I seem to understand that meeting now..." Severus planned to talk to Draco. He knew that the boy wasn't bad- just a bit spoiled. 'Maybe if he could read some passages of this book to Draco...? He would think about it later, back to the matter at hand...'

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage**_— **lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed." **

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly. **

"_**Do **_**you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" **

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy. **

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. **

"**But they were **_**our **_**kind, weren't they?"**

Severus closed his eyes for a short moment. For one wishing to make friends his godson wasn't making any effort.

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." **

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. **

**Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" **

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. **

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy. **

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts). **

"**What's up?" said Hagrid. **

"**Nothing," Harry lied. **

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. **

Everyone smiled, oh the joy one could have when seeing the wonder in a child.

**When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" **

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!" **

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. **

**He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. **

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"**

"**Yer not **_**from **_**a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were **_**— he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. **

**Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!" **

"**So what **_**is **_**Quidditch?" **

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules." **

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" **

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —" **

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily. **

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. **

"Way to make the predjudice lessen!" grumbled Pomona and Severus in unison. Albus just smiled, even while making a mental note to talk to Hagrid.

"**There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. **

"That's not true! Black for example. And if the little children who are sorted into my house because they show cunning, what is definitley not a bad thing, are confronted with this attitude, it is no wonder they turn to anyone who will support them!" ranted Snape.

**You-Know-Who was one." **

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" **

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid. **

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. **

**Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) _by Professor Vindictus Viridian. **

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley." **

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. **

"**An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level." **

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. **

"It certainly looks like he was interested," Minerva couldn't help herself. She knew that Harry liked Potions, he had told her once, but just didn't bother anymore to do well in this class.

Snape looked ashamed down and began to card his fingers through Harry's hair.

**While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). **

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again. **

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present." **

**Harry felt himself go red. **

"**You don't have to —" **

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at**

— **an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. **

In that moment said owl cam flying seemingly ou of nowhere and perched on the back of the sofa where her young master lay, now fully asleep.

**He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell. **

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. **

**Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand." **

**A magic wand… this was what Harry had been really looking forward to. **

"I think everyone does. Even I remember the day I got my first wand..." said Albus.

Severus looked at him in disbelief. To him Albus was really old, and to remember a day, 130 years later...

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. **

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. **

Albus looked interested, not many could pick that up.

"Impressive isn't it?" commented Filius, who noticed Albus' look.

**The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair. **

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. **

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly. **

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." **

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. **

"**Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. **

**Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." **

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. **

"**And that's where…" **

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. **

Pomona shuddered. "I wish I was there, to have offered my services to you Albus. I like Hagrid and all, but this wasn't the best introduction given."

Albus sighed sadly, so many mistakes with one small human being...

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…" **

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid. **

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?" **

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid. **

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern. **

"**Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly. **

"**But you don't **_**use **_**them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply. **

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. **

"**Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look.**

**"Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" **

"**Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry. **

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said: **

**"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes. **

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave." **

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. **

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —" **

**Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. **

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out." **

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. **

"Oh yes. Nothing better than a tricky customer for Ollivander," groaned Minerva.

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." **

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. **

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…" **

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…" **

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but **_**what's **_**curious?" **

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. **

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. **

**It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar." **

**Harry swallowed. **

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great." **

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. **

**He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop. **

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. **

Hoot!

**Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder. **

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said. **

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid. **

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words. **

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? **

**I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died." **

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile. **

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. **

**But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact." **

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope. **

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me… See yeh soon, Harry." **

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone. **

"Oh no!" gasped Minerva,"Hagrid forgot to tell how to get to the platform."

"Calm down Minnie," soothed the Headmaster,"I'm sure he got on it just fine.

How about we follow Harry's example, mhh?"

"Good idea, getting my beauty sleep, while the time is on hold outside," joked Filius.

The others chuckled, while heading to the five doors that appeard at one wall, Severus carrying Harry. As he opened a door, he found that the room had two beds in it, a children bed with a colourful bedding and a bed for himself, obviously.

'Damn castle' thought Severus, before he carefully laid his cargo on top of his bed and began to change Harry, who was completly out of it.

The castle provided him with pajamas for both, one with Snitches soaring around and one with exploding couldrons, much to his embarassment.

After he placed Harry in his own bed, Severus went to the en suite bathroom, readying himself for bed.

Just when he was ready he heard a knock.

"Come in."

"Ah, Severus! I wanted to ask if everything is alright?" asked the Headmaster as he strolled into the bedroom, dressed in rainbowcoloured nightrobes.

"Yes, everything is fine Headmaster," said Severus, who just remembered what pajamas he wore and swore, while at the same time was thankful that the castle knew his style and hadn't provided him with such nightrobes.

The Headmaster noticed the younger mans predicament and chose not to comment on it.

"Then, my dear boy, I wish you a good night! Sleep well."


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: It is not my story and not my characters and all around I don't own it. Sadly.

(The story comes from 'HP and the Philosophers stone, The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters')

Hi guys,

again I have to apologize for a delay. I was searching for a Beta- reader as I had so many slips of the pen that I didn't see. So now you can read my first beta-ed chapter.

Thanks Torry-Riddle!

So have fun reading,

Your Alena13

-Change in Perseption-

The next morning as Harry woke up he had the feeling that he hadn't slept this good in years. He was a little disturbed by the fact that he didn't know how he ended up in a bed, and as he stretched and looked around he was more than a little surprised to see his Potion Masters peaceful face. Harry couldn't remember ever seeing the professor so at peace.

He wasn't sure wether he should get up and risk waking Snape up or if he should just stay in bed and waiting for him to wake up. But it seemed as the choice wasn't his as his bladder screamed a minute later for him to get up. So up he got, as quietly as he could, and started his search for the bathroom. When he stood in front of the mirror brushing his theeth, as he was already there he decided to do his morning abulutions in full, he noticed his pajamas and felt a blush warming his cheeks. Someone, namely Snape, must have changed him. He had not been changed since he was two! But it felt strangely good to be cared for. He didn't even mind the pattern on it.

With this warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach he made his way back into the bedroom, only to stand frozen in the doorway as he saw his Potion Professor up- AND in Pj's even better than his!

"Good morning sir!" he said, trying not to stare at his teachers choice of night clothes.

"Good morning lad. Have you slept well?" Severus chose not to make a comment on his pajamas, as it seemed the boy wasn't going to bring it up.

"Yes sir."

"Well, let'd get you clothed and then go to have some breakfast."

As they looked into the closet they found exactly the clothes they wanted to wear. A pair of black jeans and, oh wonder, a green T-Shirt for Severus and a red T-Shirt and blue dungarees for Harry. He had always liked dungarees, with them it didn't matter that they where too big or wide.

After they finished dressing (Severus in the bathroom) they joined the others in the main room for a hearty breakfast.

"Ah, good morning my boys,"greeted the headmaster,"I trust you slept well?" 'Damn that infernal twinkle'

"Yes Albus."

"Yes headmaster."

"Then let's have breakfast! You're both too thin for my liking," added Albus.

The female population of the room couldn't help but think that Harry looked cute in his dungarees. Harry didn't know this, but he had always worn them when he was little, because Lily found them cute too.

A little while later they made their way back to the couches. Harry settled hesitently near Severus.

Poppy came over to them: "Harry let me quickly check your injuries over, Harry. Just to see if they are healing nicely. Are you in any pain?"

"No, madam," he laid back to give the Mediwitch some room to work. She checked his wounds and found them to her satisfaction.

"Alright Harry, everything is as well as it should be. Let's start reading, so we get anything done until lunch."

"Fine, who wants to read?" asked Severus.

"I think it is my turn,"said Pomona, who was the only one of the adults who hadn't read already, "or do you want to read Harry?"

After a quick headshake she grabbed the book, cleared her throat and began to read:

**Chapter Six: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"When was it ever?" muttered Harry darkly, which earned himself a surprised glance from Severus and Poppy, who were the only ones who heard.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him, in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in _A History of Magic_. His school books were very interesting.**

"And pray tell, why we never saw the same work enthusiasm here?" asked a baffled Severus.

"Everyone expects 'The boy who lived' to be lazy and they only want to see him. I tried my best the first weeks but after a while I didn't bother anymore. If you remember, sir, my first ten potions were fine, even with Malfoy flinging ingredients into my cauldron," Harry explained this in merely more than a whisper and he didn't look anyone in the eye.

Pomona, Filius, Minerva and Severus looked at each other. Was it possible that by trying to see him as a normal pupil, as they have promised each other two years ago that they would, they neglected him more than any other?

Severus had one additional problem: He knew he was unfair to the boy, part out of securing his spy position when the Dark Lord would rise again, and a bigger part out of anger at himself, James Potter and himself (AN: intentional!). If he remembered the first lesson correctly, that alone should have curbed any passion the boy could have had for his subject.

Well, they would have to see how they could work this out, now wasn't the time to solve all the problems that came up. But it was really good to find out about them.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night,**

**Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.**

**Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off anther day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

"I remember, I did that too," chuckled Filius. Severus nodded, he had too.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day,** **so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"That is cutting it a bit short," said Minerva disapprovingly.

"But Uncle Vernon had not much chance to rethink his answer or make me do much for it."

"**Er — Uncle Vernon?" Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to, to go to Hogwarts." Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

"**Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?" Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"You know Harry, that is not bad. Maybe you should consider a job as a Foreign language correspondence assitant," chuckled Albus, but he was more than disgusted with the Dursleys.

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. **"**Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"No, they are banned. Too many accidents. But the witches and wizards in Arabia still have some, out of traditon in their culture," informed Filius quickly.

Harry nodded: "I have read about it in 'Means of transport through the ages'."

To say that his professors were astonished would be an understatement.

**Harry didn't say anything.**

"**Where is this school, anyway?"**

"**I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.** **"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

**His aunt and uncle stared. **"**Platform what?"**

"**Nine and three-quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"**It's on my ticket."**

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. **

"Petunia knows where it is. I know that she accompanied Lily a few times," grumbled Severus.

Minervas lips tightened noticeably.

**You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"**Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

"Don't know why I'm still trying," sighed Harry.

"**Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

"Hagrid must have used quite a bit of power then," mused Albus, "when it lasted that long."

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.**

**He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes, he'd change on the train.**

"That was wise of you," complimented Minerva.

"Yes, I don't know how many muggles have to be obliviated every year because of 'weird clothed people' running around," added Pomona.

"Why don't you write it in the letters you send to everyone?" asked Harry, his idea was met with surprised and ashamed looks from the adults. That was an idea that they could, no should have come up with.

"That's a great idea you have there. I will see to it that it is added this year," complimented Albus.

**He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up.**

**Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off. **

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him.**

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course.**

**There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

Poppy grew still before she suddenly shouted: "How dare they? I can't believe it! If I think of all the things that could have happened to you! You were eleven years old..."

She continued her rant for about 5 more minutes until the headmaster thought she had heard all her arguments about four times: "I think we got your point Poppy," he rebuked gently.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. **

**He'd have to ask someone.** **He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters.**

**The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose.**

"I don't think I was the only lost first year. Maybe you should put a few people there to watch out for them. The people who used to obliviate the muggles could do it."

Again, the teachers were surprised that even through their long experience, a nearly thirteen year old had better ideas than them.

**Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one.**

**In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"Ugh, that could have ended in a disaster," shuddered Filius.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"— **packed with Muggles, of course —"**

**Harry swung round.**

"Good for you, but this is really stupid. Who would talk this irresponsible?"

**The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"Ah, Molly..."

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him, and they had an _owl_.**

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"**Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mum, can't I go…"**

"Even if it were possible, it would have been a little late to make the necessary purchases for it. With all her brothers she should know that," mused Filius.

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell **_**I'm George?"**

**"Sorry, George, dear."**

**"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy**

"I hate it when they do that," moaned Minerva. Even after four years she couldn't tell them apart.

Albus just chuckled. The twins always amused him.

**Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there - and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. **

**There was nothing else for it. **

**"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman. **

**"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." **

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Nice descriptions," drawled Severus. Harry grinned, he was quite imaginative.

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"**

"**How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"Maybe we should hire Molly for the first years," said Poppy, she often found Molly irritating in her presence, as she discussed her treatment of _her_ patients as if she was the healer, but Molly had a way with children, which was fortunate as she had seven.

"Your idea has merit, Poppy. I will think about it and ask Molly if she would like to do it,"answered the Headmaster.

"**Er — okay," said Harry. He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

"That's its purpose, Harry," chuckled Severus.

**He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble — leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash —**

**It didn't come…**

**he kept on running… he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said _Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock_. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters _on it.**

**He had done it.**

"Congratulations Harry," wished Pomona with a big smile.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat.**

**He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"Neville."

"**Oh, **_**Neville**_**," he heard the old woman sigh.**

Everyone smirked

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

Many winced

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

"That is what I love with the twins, they make my hair grey but they are not malicious," praised Pomona.

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

"**Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —?"**

"**He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Harry Potter**_**." chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry.**

As funny as his mishap was, it also showed everyone in the room how unwanted his fame was.

Severus grimaced, and he was the spy...

"**I mean, yes, I am."**

**The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. **

**Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

"**Fred? George? Are you there?"**

"**Coming, Mum."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

"Harry!" rebuked Pomona and Minerva.

"I'm sorry, but I was curious. They were the first 'normal' whizarding family I've met. I know it was wrong, I'm sorry," hastened Harry to explain. Apparently his explanation was good enough as he wasn't chastised further.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief. **"**Ron, you've got something on your nose." The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"_**Mum**_**— geroff!" He wriggled free.**

"Social suicide,"muttered Severus, sending Harry into a fit of giggles, making them smile.

"**Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

"**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter _P _on it.**

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"**

"**Oh, are you a **_**prefect**_**, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once-"**

"**Or twice —"**

"**A minute —"**

"**All summer —"**

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

Everyone chuckled.

**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

"**Because he's a **_**prefect**_**," said their mother fondly.**

**"All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins. **"**Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"**

All the professors groaned. Now they knew where the twins got their ideas.

**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

"**It's **_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron."**

"Why not say that to Percy, he was the oldest in school?" asked Harry, but no one had a answer for that.

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"_**Harry Potter**_**!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice. **"**Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please…"**

Harry hid himself in Severus' side, blushing deeply.

"**You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."**

"**Poor **_**dear **_**— no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.** "**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

"**All right, keep your hair on." **

"I'm always surprised how different each of the Weasley kids turned out," mused Pomona.

**A whistle sounded. **"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat."**

"_**George!**_**"**

"**Only joking, Mum."**

"Only half, I got one," grinned Harry.

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.** **Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner.**

**Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to — but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red headed boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

Severus snorted: "Of course."

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"**Hey, Ron." The twins were back.** "**Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"**Right," mumbled Ron.**

**Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

"**Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Ron, always finding loopholes," added Harry.

**Harry nodded.**

"**Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…"**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. **

"**So that's where You-Know-Who —?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

"**Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

Harry burrowed in Severus side, he really hated his fame.

"**Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"**Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"**Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**.

"**Err — Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

**So you must know loads of magic already." The Weasley's were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

Laughter followed this.

"I would love to send this line to Lucius and Draco," guffawed Severus.

"**I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"**Horrible — well, not all of them. **

Albus nodded, a wise statement. It showed how mature Harry was in his decisions.

**My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"**Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy.**

**I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.** **Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. **

**You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."**

"Minerva, maybe you should talk to Ron and his parents sometime," suggested Filius. The head of Gryffindor nodded.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.** "**His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"That was nice of you, even if Ronalds reaction wasn't," said Pomona.

"… **and until Hagrid told "me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —" Ron gasped.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**You said You-Know-Who's name!**_**" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"**

"**I'm not trying to be **_**brave **_**or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't.** **See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"You are by no means the worst! And I hope that after this reading you will show us your true nature, young man," said Minerva, half scolding and half complimenting.

"**You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

"Hermione."

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor. He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry**— **but the woman didn't have Mars Bars.**

**What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life.**

**Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

"That must have been a sight to see. I bet Remus would have loved it," said Albus, testing the water what the reaction to Remus Lupin would be as he planned to hire the werewolf for next year.

But only Minerva answered: "This man would eat every chocolate. He is practically addicted to it!"

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

"**Hungry, are you?"**

"**Starving," said Harry, **

Causing the adults to wince.

**taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside.**

**He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"**

"There really is a downside to being one of many," contemplated Harry.

His teachers agreed. Especially Harry would need some one on one attention.

"**Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"**

"**You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

"**Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"Why am I not surprised," sighed Poppy.

"**What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.**

"**They're not **_**really **_**frogs, are they?" **

**He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

"**No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

"**What?"**

"**Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

"I've got Agrippa in my tenth Chocolate Frog," told Harry smiling like a Chesire cat.

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache.**

**Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

"**So **_**this **_**is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"**Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" **

**said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS**_

_**Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.**_

_**Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"Just your luck Harry. Your first frog and you get our old Headmaster," said Sverus mock exasperated. Causing Harry to giggle and said Headmaster to throw a pillow at his boys, which made both of them laugh.

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. **"**He's gone!"**

"**Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. **"**He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. "Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"**Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "**_**Weird!"**_

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. **

**He finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.**

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they **_**mean **_**every flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."**

Albus shuddered. He never had any luck with these beans, so he sticked to his muggle candy with which he could be sure of the taste being what he wanted.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. **"**Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."**

"Oi," snapped the formidable Herbology witch indignantly. Filius laughed.

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

"**Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

"Trevor is evil," related Harry, "he always hides and turns up at the most unfortunate moments."

"**He'll turn up," said Harry.**

"**Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…" He left.**

"**Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. **"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"**

"Thats dangerous," exclaimed Pomona.

"Ron won't be working with it anymore. It broke during our confrontation with the Womping Willow," Harry pointed out shyly.

"What made it even more unstable," said Minerva. She could understand that Molly and Artur didn't have so much money but each kid needed a wand for their own. -More than an owl for being made prefect, now that she thought of it.

"But it saved our life," contered Harry. After seeing their questioning looks he added: "You will probably know after the next book."

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toad less boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

By now Severus was scared of his description. If Po-Harry was this 'nice' to his friends...

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"**Er — all right." He cleared his throat. **"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

"For a pure- blood he is not so good informed. I mean he must have heard his parents and older brothers saying incantations...?" questioned Harry.

"Yes, young Ronald should have known better," said Filius.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.**

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart,** **of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" **

**She said all this very fast.**

"I could tell," wheezed Pomona.

**Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.**

"**I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

"**Harry Potter," said Harry.**

"**Are you really?" said Hermione. **"**I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**."**

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toad less boy with her.**

"**Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

"How you ended up being best friends..." mused Poppy. It sure didn't look like a good foundation.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"This bet was won," grinned Harry. This was a chapter he liked, it was funny and didn't base too much on his home situation.

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"**That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"Maybe you should start a campaign to improve Slytherins image," suggested Harry, much to the surprise of Severus.

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

**So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts,"** **said Ron. **"**Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

**Harry stared. **"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort"** **without worrying.**

"That is indeed curious," Albus was amazed.

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"He always forgets that I am raised by muggles," said Harry.

"**Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed.**

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" **

"Considering that the wizarding world does not have so many alternatives," mused Harry.

Poppy had thought about it before: "We should add to our sports. So many people are afraid of heights and many muggle- borns would love to play soccer and so on. Furthermore would it be good for the health of the children, as only so many can play Quidditch and they miss out on other physical exercises."

**And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toad less boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"And my name is Bond, James Bond," imitated Harry, making Severus laugh, the others didn't know the films and just looked confuse.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."**

"That was the mistake Draco made," explained Harry, "if he would have just talked we may would have been friends. But he insulted the first friend I had and was so full of himself."

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. **"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. **

Severus growled: "I will have to talk to my godson, and soon."

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasley's and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

**Both Harry and Ron stood up. **

"**Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle**

**Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.**

"Scabbers finest hour, he just sleeps otherwise," told Harry.

**Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

"**What **_**has **_**been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

"**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. **

**He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." **

**And so he had. **"**You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

"**I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. **

**My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." **

"He certainly didn't, but he is not entirely evil. Part of him is still a good friend," admitted Severus.

**He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

"You just ignored her the whole time?" Severus asked surprised.

"She didn't have to wait there," Harry pointed out.

"**You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

"If I remember correctly he had that smudge for quiet a long time, didn't he," remembered Minerva.

"Yes," laughed Harry, "and Mione didn't grew tired to tell him every morning."

The teachers laughed.

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"It was nice that there was someone I already knew," said Harry.

"**C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

"Nothing changed," everone remembered their first day at Hogwarts, even Dumbledore with his one hundred and so on years.

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

Harry grinned.

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

"Did you ever think of becoming a writer, Harry?" asked Filius. He was amazed with the way Harry described his surroundings.

"No, but maybe I could try it out."

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. **"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"And so it ends and begins," said Pomona as she closed the books around her forefinger, "the next chapter is about the sorting, so we may finally know what took you so long."

Harry nodded nervously.

"So, would you like to read it?" asked Minerva.

"O- Okay."


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I **don't** own these characters and the plot of the books, I only enjoy playing on the playground J. K. Rowling provided.

Hey guys,

This chapter hasn't seen my beta-reader yet, but I got many enquiries to update, so I will exchange this against the corrected text as soon as I have it. Please don't be angry about any mistakes.

I hope you have fun reading,

Your Alena13

-Change in Perception-

With a small voice Harry started to read. But while reading the first few sentences, his voice gained confidence:

**Chapter Six: The Sorting Hat**

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross. **

"Life could be so easy if everyone would adhere to that," sighed Minerva.

"Where would be the fun in that, dear?" chuckled Albus.

"Where indeed,"grumbled Minerva as Harry started to read again.

"**The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. **

"**Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." **

**She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. **

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. **

**The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."**

"**The four houses are called Gryffindor,** **Hufflepuff,** **Ravenclaw,** **and Slytherin.**

**Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points.**

"Is there somewhere a list for what amount of points is lost by what rule breaking, or do you just take as many as you want?" asked Harry.

"Another great idea, Harry," complemented Filius, "sadly we always take and also give as many points as we think the situation requires. This makes the system susceptible. Why we never thought of a point system before is beyond me."

"It would make manipulating the House- point- system harder," mused Pomona with a quick glance at Severus and Minerva, who chose to look in the other diection.

**At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. **

"**The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." **

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"Generations of male Potters tried that before, with no luck," told Albus, making Harry wonder how many Potters he had thaught.

Severus looked astonished: "I always thought it was done on purpose..."

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." **

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed. **

"**How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron. **

"**Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

"It's tradition that the first years aren't told how the sorting is done, so it doesn't even come up in 'Hogwarts a History'," informed Poppy Harry. She was beginning to calm down, now that Harry was away from his family and she, in her opinion, thought she knew what was happening over the next month in Harry's life (book wise).

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet —what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. **

"That would make anyone else even more nervous," moaned Severus.

Harry nodded, he could remember only too well how he felt that day.

**Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. **

"Don't even think about doing something like that here, Mr. Potter, you are in enough trouble as it is and we have quite enough pranksters as it is," warned Minerva.

They could see Harry hesitate slightly before he addressed his transfiguration teacher: "Professor, I know it wasn't right but neither I nor my teacher knew about magic at that time, I had no idea I was causing this and the teacher was quite mean. If I could do it again I would!" He said the last part with more force, making the teachers blink in surprise. "And the stuff happening here at school is mostly not started by me. At one time or the other I just stumble uppon it, I don't go looking for it!

Breathing heavier than befor he, for the first time since they came together in this room, looked defiant at the professor.

Despite feeling chastisied by the nearly third year student and grandson of sorts (she was quite close to the family after all) she couldn't surpress the grin that fought his way on her face while seeing the "old" Harry coming back. In spite of all his experiences at, for the lack of a better word, 'home' and here at school he wasn't a broken child. He sure needed some help but it was not a loosing battle.

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Being a little dramatic?" asked Severus with a raised eyebrow, only to receive the same look back:

"And you weren't nervous on your first day?" before Harry quickly ducked his head.

Se- Snape might have been pretty cool these two days but to actually goad the normally sour Master?

But a quick squeeze of his shoulder told him that he was forgiven making him look up again, only to see a smirk on his teachers face.

Albus laughed: "Don't worry Harry, our Severus is all bark but really no bite in the end."

**Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed. **

"**What the —?" **

**He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. **

"Ah... still the same," chuckled Poppy.

**Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —" **

"**My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?" **

"And they actually have still the same argument with nearly the same wording," Poppy was surprised, "I would have thought they have enough time to think of something new."

"Alas, they did it even at my first day at Hogwarts," added Albus.

Harry had a hard time imagining his Headmaster as a eleven year old: How would his face look, without the beard and all those wrinkles?

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. **

**Nobody answered. **

"**New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" **

**A few people nodded mutely. **

"**Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know." **

"**Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." **

**Professor McGonagall had returned.**

**One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. **

"**Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me." **

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. **

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. **

All the teachers smiled.

**It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting.**

**Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. **

**Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."**

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. **

"It would be great if we could make something like a sleepover party there," said Harry

"Maybe around christmas, when there aren't so many students at school," suggested Pomona, who quite liked the idea, it may bring some inter House friendships with it.

Albus nodded his consent, before, a moment later a note appeared in a bright light before settling on their small couch table.

It read:

_I will arrange all necessary things for it, if you decide on the date._

_May I suggest christmas itself? With all the christmas trees and the festive atmosphere it would make the sleepover even better._

_Have fun,_

_Hogwarts_

_Ps: I will have a surprise ready for you, Harry this evening. Ah, for you as well Severus, I assume... _ (AN: Yes, a castle knows how to make smiley ^^)

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house. **

**_Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it_, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing**

"It's what muggle magicans do, the ones that play mind tricks on their audience to make it seem as if they could do magic," interrupted Severus Harrys reading after seeing the confused looks on his colleagues faces.

**noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:**

Here Harry hesitated for a moment, before starting to actually sing that song:

"_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

_**But don't judge on what you see, **_

_**I'll eat myself if you can find **_

_**A smarter hat than me. **_

_**You can keep your bowlers black, **_

_**Your top hats sleek and tall, **_

_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat **_

_**And I can cap them all. **_

_**There's nothing hidden in your head **_

_**The Sorting Hat can't see, **_

_**So try me on and I will tell you **_

_**Where you ought to be. **_

_**You might belong in Gryffindor, **_

_**Where dwell the brave at heart, **_

_**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry **_

_**Set Gryffindors apart; **_

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff, **_

_**Where they are just and loyal, **_

_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true **_

_**And unafraid of toil; **_

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, **_

_**if you've a ready mind, **_

_**Where those of wit and learning, **_

_**Will always find their kind; **_

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin **_

_**You'll make your real friends, **_

_**Those cunning folk use any means **_

_**To achieve their ends. **_

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid! **_

_**And don't get in a flap! **_

_**You're in safe hands (though I have none) **_

_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!" **_

**The whole hall burst into applause**

As did the adults now. Harry, with his child voice still intact, sang that song better than the hat ever could.

Harry buried his deep red head in Severus T-Shirt, for a breef second missing the wide robes form the previous day.

"Maybe we should let Harry sing that song next year,"suggested Minerva, "the Hat could still compose it. But how often has he nagged you for finding an alternative, Albus?"

**as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. **

"**So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

"Maybe Fred has some Seer blood," sniggered Harry. The adults who knew about his 'meeting' with the troll grimaced while Poppy paled: 'What could have happened between a Troll and Harry?'

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him. **

"... and for all all others too, we could abandon the system completely."

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. **

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" **

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. **

Harry did too, making all the adults jump and in return Harry giggle.

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her. **

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. **

"**Boot, Terry!" **

"**RAVENCLAW!" **

"I think we can all remember how the hat shouts the names, Harry, even with our high ages," said Minerva, rubbing her ears.

While Harry nodded a little sheepishly, Severus started a rant: "High age? I am not old, and neither are you Minerva, if you wnat something old, look at Albus!"

Minerva blushed at the compliment and sniggered at her colleagues disamy at being told to be old.

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. **

"**Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling. **

"**Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot. **

Severus sighed, with their stoic faces in public his Slytherins and he himself certainly didn't have a good reputation in being warm and inviting.

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

"**Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" **"**HUFFLEPUFF!" **

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

"**Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

"**GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.**

**Ron groaned.**

Harry sniggered

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? **

"That has never happened before, and we wouldn't let our statistics begin to fail with you," said Filius.

**What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train? **

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. **

**The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," **

**Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag." **

"Poor Nev," sighed Harry, he liked Neville, he was a constant in his life, never as close as Hermione and Ron but still.

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. **

**There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"… , "Parkinson"… , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… , then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… , and then, at last — **

"**Potter, Harry!"**

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. **

"_**Potter**_**, did she say?" **

"_**The **_**Harry Potter?" **

Harry groaned.

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. **

"If only first years try the hat why isn't it smaller?" asked Harry.

"Well if you have bigger students, maybe people like Hagrid, or older transfer students or in exceptional cases resorted students it is better to have a bigger hat. It can still do its purpose on the first year heads and even on a seventh year head.

And as it is a special kind of magic artefact it can't be changed in size, so we have to make do with what we have," explained Albus patiently.

**He waited. **

"**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. **

Severus was shocked, he thought Harrys placement was clear

**Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"**

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, _Not Slytherin, not Slytherin_. **

"**Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that** **no? Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!" **

"You could have been in my house?" questioned Severus.

Minerva chose to stay in the background, she would not have despised Harry in Slytherin but was nonetheless happier that he was one of her Gryffs.

Harry noded, looking fearfully at Severus, who pulled a stiff Harry into a hug.

"I'm not mad, just sad that our start was as bad as it could be. Every possibility that I would have looked past your masks was thwarted before it could happen, then you add my stubborness and that explains our last two years."

The other Heads couldn't believe it either; it seemed that Harry had traits from all their houses. They thought about what could have been if Harry Potter was in their house... before Harrys voice brought them back:

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" **

**Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water. **

Harry shuddered: "I hate that feeling. The only way to really be rid of it is a hot shower."

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. **

**Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. **

Said man smiled while stroking his beard. He loved to run his fingers through it while thinking, it made him relax.

**Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban. **

Harry shuddered thinking what was under it, making Severus squeeze his shoulders. He still couldn't really accept this concept of Snape, but he loved it and would make the best of it while it lasted.

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. **

"**Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" **

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him. **

"**Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously **

"As if he had any say in it," snorted Severus.

**across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. **

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago. **

**Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. **

"That happens to be true," confided the Headmaster, twinkle in his eyes.

"**Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! **

"**Thank you!" **

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. **

"**Is he — a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly. **

"**All the best people are," said Albus.**

"While that certainly is true, you don't have to show it at the first day, Albus," admonished Filius.

"**Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?" **

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. **

"These are there on the request of a single lady," grinned Poppy at Pomona, who blushed. She loved these and there were always a few students who would eat them too at dinner.

Harry was surprised, he thought they were there because of the Headmaster.

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. **

"We have to talk about the definition of starving, Harry," said Filius, shaking his head, "not eating your fill is definitly included."

**Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious. **

"You should have tried the humbugs," mock-pouted Pomona.

"**That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak. **

"**Can't you —?" **

"**I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower." **

"**I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"Ah, every year the same," laughed Minerva, "it is Nicholas favourite way of introducing himself."

"**I would **_**prefer **_**you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted. **

"_**Nearly **_**Headless? How can you be **_**nearly **_**headless?" **

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. **

"Oh, it is. This is how he likes it best."

"**Like **_**this**_**," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. **

"Nice image while eating," grumbled Harry.

**Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."**

Severus allowed himself a smug smile.

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements. **

"**How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest. **

"**I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately. **

"He never told anyone," said Severus, "even our esteemed Headmaster doesn't know."

"Want to make a bet? I say Harry knows by the end of his school carrier," threw Filius in, letting his Goblin blood through.

"Filius!" admonished Pomona, "You don't gamble with children around!" While secretly all teachers handed him some money with either a nod or a shake of the head, making Harry roll his eyes.

"You know I'm not that stupid, right?"

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding… **

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart,**

"My favorite dessert" Harry said.

The teachers smiled and made a mental note.

**the talk turned to their families. **

"**I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."**

**The others laughed. **

"That could have gone seriously wrong," said Severus angrliy. His father didn't take it well at all.

It was Harrys turn to hug his teacher comfortingly.

"**What about you, Neville?" said Ron. **

"**Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles**

"Oh my God!" a startled McGonagall said.

Poppy added: "We should make a visit to Augusta soon. It is time she sees Neville as an individual and not a replica of Frank."

**when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad." **

Everyone looked 'displeased' to but it lightly.

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I _do _hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, **

"That's Mione, at least before she befriended us," laughed Harry.

**you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing — "). **

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. **

Severus fake glowered at Harry who first cowered but then regained his composure and sticked his tongue out.

Severus in turn made a show of taking Harrys tongue with his fingers, making Harry giggle.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. **

Poppy looked concerned, as did the others.

Harry noticed: "It will be explained at the end, it is not too bad and it wasn't Professor Snapes fault."

"**Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head. **

"**What is it?" asked Percy. **

"**N-nothing." **

"Harry you should try to seek help every now and then. It makes life easier."

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look — a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all. **

"**Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy. **

"**Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

"Grrr," growled Snape, "you have to know your opponent to have a chance against him. And I would say I would have made a better Defense teacher than Quirrel."

**Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again. **

**At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. **

"**Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. **

"Couldn't you say those in the morning? I know that I was tired and just got about the half of your speech," queried Harry.

"I guess that won't hurt, the most students won't go exploring in the first night," said Minerva.

Albus nodded.

"**First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." **

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"**I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. **

"**Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. **

"**And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." **

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. **

"**He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy. **

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least." **

"Percy really needs a reality check. Just because he is a prefect he isn't the king of the world," moaned Harry, who was often annoyed by Percy as the prefect looked at him as some kind of baby brother since Ron was always away when Percy came into the room.

"**And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. **

Now they were quite relaxed as they new it was only Harry singing and his singing was enjoyable.

**Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. **

"**Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" **

**And the school bellowed: **

Harry chose a more composed tune:

"_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, **_

_**Teach us something please, **_

_**Whether we be old and bald **_

_**Or young with scabby knees, **_

_**Our heads could do with filling **_

_**With some interesting stuff, **_

_**For now they're bare and full of air, **_

_**Dead flies and bits of fluff, **_

_**So teach us things worth knowing, **_

_**Bring back what we've forgot, **_

_**just do your best, we'll do the rest, **_

_**And learn until our brains all rot."**_

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.**

**Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest. **

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" **

"Do you like horses, Professor?" asked Harry, "First with the food now we are all to trot..."

**The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt. **

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him. **

"**Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves — show yourself." **

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered. **

"**Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" **

"Ah, that was way too early to threaten with the Baron," commented Pomona.

**There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. **

"**Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" **

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked. **

"**Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy. **

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed. **

"**You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." **

"Again with the prefect status..." mumbled Harry.

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. **

"**Password?" she said. **

"**Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up**

— **and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed. **

"**Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get **_**off**_**, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets." **

Minerva wrinkled his nose, she had nearly no love for rats, she prefered mice.

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once. **

**Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. **

**Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it — then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. **

"What the- I can't remember that," muttered Harry.

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"Well that explains that. I think it would be good if you read, Professor," said Harry handing the book to Severus while sitting back and leaning slightly into Severus side.


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: ** It is not my story and not my characters and all around I don't own it. Sadly.

(The story comes from 'HP and the Philosophers stone, The Potions Master')

**Hey guys,**

**I am sorry for the delay. I had hoped to update sooner but I was really busy at university and last week I had a car accident. But know I am back at work!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Looking back my story is really maudlin, but who cares? **

**Have fun reading!**

**Love, Alena13**

**-Change in Perception-**

**CHAPTER 8: THE POTIONS MASTER**

"**The Potions Master," **Severus read and grimaced. This chapter surely wouldn't show him in his best moments...

"**There, look." **

"**Where?" **

"**Next to the tall kid with the red hair." **

"**Wearing the glasses?" **

"**Did you see his face?" **

"**Did you see his scar?" **

Harry scowled. Bloody scar. "That's all they ever see when looking at me!" he said disgruntled.

The teachers looked helplessly at each other, that was something they couldn't change.

**Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. **

**People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes. **

"They didn't help you? To me they all seemed eager to speak to you and tell everyone that they were your friends?" asked Pomona, who at the time had been happy with her badgers.

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts:**

"How do you know that?" The Headmaster was impressed, not many knew these facts about the castle.

"I've read 'Hogwarts, Explained by the founders'. It is much better than 'Hogwarts, a history."

"But no one has read that book for a thousand years! No one has even seen it!" exclaimed Minerva.

"I've asked the Goblins if there were other things in the vault and they showed me some books, this book was among them."

"It seems, Mr. Potter, you have once again deceived us all," said Albus.

**wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. **

"That they can, tricked me often enough in my time as a student,"grumbled Minerva.

The others laughed at her disgruntled face.

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" **

"Well that would be thanks to our dear Potion Master here," huffed Pomona, "he found it incredibly funny to teach this menace all kind of new tricks when he was a student. Even now I am not sure he stopped."

Harry looked wide eyed at his teacher: "You? You would teach Peeves jokes?"

Severus raised an eyebrow: "You do know that I am human and as such was young once?"

Harry blushed but still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. **

**Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. **

"That has to be the new record," smiled Albus.

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. **

**He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing. **

Looking now at the situation and remembering the other incidents, Harry wanted to hit himself on the head. It all looked so clear now.

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. **

**She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins)**

The teachers apart from Albus groaned. They have found the twins all over the castle.

**and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. **

"I tried to pet her once but she scratched me so bad that Ron thought a bear had attacked me," told Harry, "I thought that she was just lonely, but she is really mean." With that said he huffed and pouted.

The adults smiled he looked really adorable.

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. **

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. **

**Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. **

"I remember that from my time as a student! It was worse than teatime with my great aunt Margaret, and that was bad," exclaimed Minerva.

Severus nodded: "History is too important and interesting for it to be made so... boring. We should look for someone else to teach it. We could send Binns to make a very prolonged vacation or something like that, maybe then he will find another purpose."

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. **

**At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. **

Filius and Harry blushed.

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. **

**Strict and clever, **

Minerva smiled happily, with that description she could live with.

**she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class. **

"**Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." **

"As if," snorted Severus.

"What do you mean by that, young man?" countered Minerva.

"How often have certain people wrecked havoc in our class throughout the years and you never even gave them detention?" said Severus with a hint of anger and sadness he couldn't quite hide.

Minerva was a bit ashamed, she knows that Severus wasn't treated well by the marauders, but they never did anything in her presence to him and she did favor them a bit so she didn't want to scold them.

Albus frowned. He had noticed Severus' sadness, even after all these years. Maybe he should make sure that his youngest colleague would find a way to move on from his youth. He had a hunch that Harry would be the key-tool to Severus' happiness.

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.**

"That was really mean professor," complained Harry, "We would have been impressed with nearly everything and you do the thing we have to wait for for ages."

He looked even more frustrated as all the adults began to laugh.

**After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.**

"And there they say I am the one that doesn't smile," grumbled Severus good naturedly.

Harry thought that every time Snape smiled to anyone it looked a bit creepy, but thought it better not to voice this.

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. **

**His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. **

**For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban**

Harry paled a bit. Now that he knew what the smell was it made his stomach churn in the thought that he inhaled it quite often as Hermione insisted on sitting in the first row, even if the lessons were rubbish.

Severus noticed his scrunched up nose and pulled him a bit closer. He too had noticed the smell as he sat next to Quirrel in the Great Hall, to think about what caused it... just say he was really happy he had such self-control.

**, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went. **

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start. **

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. **

The adults smiled.

"**What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.**

"**Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them — we'll be able to see if it's true." **

"**Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry. **

**Professor McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before. **

"How else are you going to learn?" was her answer to his thought from two years ago.

Harry, even so he was secretly a devoted student, could think of many different ways that would make much more fun.

**Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. **

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. **

As if on cue Hedwig hopped in his lap. Harry smiled widely and began to pet her.

**This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl: **

_**Dear Harry, **_

_**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? **_

_**I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. **_

_**Hagrid **_

"I'm still amazed you can read his writing," commended Pomona.

**Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled _Yes, please, see you later _on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again. **

**It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far. **

Severus cringed twice. The first time at his own memory and then two seconds after that at the looks that were sent to him.

Harry felt it happen, as the Potion Masters arm was still wrapped around him, and in response wrapped his arms around said Masters belly, snuggling into it.

Severus looked down surprised and then smiled a huge smile as he knew then that Harry was trying to overcome their past, too.

**At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry —**

Severus paused for a moment in the reading, and the others thought that they may have heard wrong, but were soon brought back to reallity when he continued:

**he _hated _him. **

"As said as it is, this makes more sense," mumbled Albus.

"I didn't hate you... it was more that I hated myself and made you suffer for it," Severus explained, even so he felt very vulnerable offering his thoughts and feeling to everyone.

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. **

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name. **

"**Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new — **_**celebrity**_**." **

Harry, feeling sure enough to be cheeky: "And who was the old one?"

Severus smiled and joked back: "Me, that's why I was so dissappointed, you stole my fame."

The others chuckled. It was good to see the two young ones act naturally.

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. **

**They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.**

"Occlumency shields full up in front of a class of first years?" Poppy was not amused. Severus hid too often behind his mental walls for her to approve.

"**You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. **

"**As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"Amazing speech, Severus," complimented Filius, causing Severus to blush, "could only be made better by forgetting the last part."

Severus nodded. He would have to be nicer in the future... starting now.

**More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. **

"**Potter!" said Snape suddenly. **

"That reminds me, why weren't you paying attention? You gave me a perfect excuse to have a go at you," queried Severus.

"Maybe it's mentioned, if not I will tell you."

**"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" **

"A very powerful sleeping potion, sir."

As Harry said it with a smile no one saw it as necessary to scold Severus again. He was intelligent enough to know he was wrong.

**_Powdered root of what to an infusion of what_? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air. **

"**I don't know, sir," said Harry. **

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer. **

"**Tut, tut — fame clearly isn't everything." **

**He ignored Hermione's hand. **

"**Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" **

"The stomach of a goat, sir."

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. **

Here Harry scowled: "I bet they will not even know if asked now!"

"**I don't know, sir." **

"**Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" **

**Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. **

**He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_? **

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand. **

"**What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" **

"There is none, and it is also called Aconite."

**At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. **

"This girl really doesn't get a hint," grumbled Severus, "my behaviour against Harry is one thing, but I would think I made my intentions clear enough!"

"That's Hermione for you. She would rather be in Detention than not answer a question," explained Harry.

"**I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" **

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased. **

"**Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" **

"Oh well, I guess it isn't mentioned. I was actually writing parts of your speech down, and as I had and still have problems writing with a quill I needed to concentrate on it to make it legible," explained Harry Severus' question.

Severus was embarrassed.

Harry got one more over him and recited his monolog perfectly, right down to the 'dunderheads' part, even in kind of the same tone, only his boy-voice hindered him.

After he was done everyone clapped.

"See sir, it isn't all what it seems," said Harry with a smirk worthy of the 'Dungeon-bat'.

**There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." **

**Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. **

"Maybe we should both work on our favouritism," added Minerva.

'_Wow, it's 'We- pick- on- Severus' day'_ thought Severus sarcastically. But he knew that he hadn't acted well in this chapter and hoped the next was... less focused on him.

**He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. **

"Isn't it a bit dangerous for the first potion? I mean, there are many safer potions and you had a class full of new brewers," asked Poppy.

"Yes, it is a bit dangerous, but firstly it shows them to pay attention, secondly it is something help- and useful and thirdly it is tradition to brew it on the first day," was the response given by the resident potion- master.

**Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. **

"**Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" **

Severus paused in his reading, awaiting a scolding, but nothing came. They thought that their point was delivered well enough by now.

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. **

"**Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. **

"**You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? **

Harry cringed. He had just seen the scene in front of his inner eye. Severus' voice along with it hadn't helped.

**Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." **

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. **

"**Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty." **

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week**

**Whydid Snape hate him so much? **

Now it was Severus turn to cringe.

"**Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. **

"And there it is well placed!" scolded Filius.

**Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?" **

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. **

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "_Back_, Fang —_back_." **

"Don't be scared by the scary names, beware of the cute names!" said Poppy with a shudder. She knew too well what Hagrids 'pets' could do. She was the one to patch all the poor people up who met one of those.

Harry mumbled: "Fluffy," in disgust, but no one heard him.

**Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. **

"**Hang on," he said. "**_**Back**_**, Fang." **

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. **

"At first he was reaaally scary. Aunt Marges dogs were smaller but meaner," added Harry.

"Aunt Marge? Is she Vernons sister?" asked Minerva.

Harry nodded.

"And what did her dogs do?" queried Poppy carefully.

Harry shrugged while Severus arm tightened around him: "They chased me. Sometimes up a tree and they wouldn't call them back."

The adults flinched, but Harry didn't notice: "I was about four or five, when I sat in a tree for a whole night."

"Oh little one," sighed Albus. If he only had known...

Severus scooped him fully up onto his lap and cuddled him for all it was worth.

A few minutes later he picked the book back up, without letting Harry go, who had pressed his face into the crook of his neck and grapped the back of his shirt.

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. **

"**Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. **

"**This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate. **

"**Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest." **

"No wonder Ron has an inferiority complex. Being the sixth and last boy. And then Hagrid bringing it up in such a way. Poor boy. It can't be easy," contemplated Pomona, who herself had four sisters.

**The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.**

**Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git." **

"**An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her — Filch puts her up to it." **

"That thought has a high possibility," smiled Filius.

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. **

"**But he seemed to really **_**hate **_**me." **

"**Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?" **

"Why indeed," sighed Severus.

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that. **

"**How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot — great with animals." **

**Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. **

**While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet_: **

_**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST **_

_**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. **_

"_**But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon. **_

**Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date. **

"**Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" **

"And here it goes... Sherlock Holmes found a new case," chuckled Poppy.

The ones without Muggle knowledge looked confused.

Harry sniggered: "Then would Ron be Watson. I guess his knowledge of strategy could account for that."

**There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. **

**He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. _The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. _**

**Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for? **

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry? **

"Another chapter done. And I am really happy about that," grumbled Severus.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Still don't own the story. Just using J:K: Rowlings Masterpiece as playground.

Hey guys,

I'm sorry it took me so long again. This chapter really grated on my nerves, I started a lot of times but no good ideas came to me. Add to that I had exams the last weeks, but finally I am free to spend my time writing ;).

I hope you enjoy this chapter, I did in the end!

Love, Alena13

- Change in Perception-

After Severus finished his part he put the book back on the table and stood up.

"I need a bathroom break," he stated before he vanished in his room. The others stood up as well and stretched.

"I'm going to make us some tea," said Poppy walking to a niche with cups and an assortment of tea, "thinking of the last two years happenings the next chapters aren't going to be any easier. And Severus looked like he could use a strong blend."

Harry looking unsure of what to do walked up beside her: "Can I help you, Madam?"

The protective mediwitch nodded: "Sure you can, see the box with the inscription 'Black Dragon Pearls'?" at Harry's nod she continued, "This is the favourite of Severus, we will need three teaspoons of this for him."

While Poppy readied the cups for Filius, Albus, Pomona and herself, she coached Harry to prepare the cups for Severus, Minerva and himself. Harry joyfully noted that the room had even known his favourite tea. He had only drunk it once, when Dobby made it for him.

Just as the tea was ready came Severus back, looking a lot calmer. He helped carrying the cups safely to their reading place before sitting down and inhaling the aroma of his tea, which seemed to relax him instantly.

Happily drinking their tea and munching on some biscuits that had popped up the moment everyone had held their cup they started the next chapter with Albus reading:

**Chapter Nine: The Midnight Duel**

"'The Midnight Duel'?" asked Minerva disbelievingly, "And here I thought I knew of all your adventures."

Harry bent his head over his teacup and concentrated on the smell and the good feeling the flavour instilled in him to keep the keep the bad feelings out.

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy.**

**Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. **

"**Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy." **

"If I was informed correctly that didn't work out for him, mhh?" smirked Severus.

Harry blushed.

"Draco was really miffed after that. He came to me cussing worse than my father."

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else. **

"**You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk." **

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.**

"Does he know about helicopters?" asked Harry. It was something he had wondered about for quite some time.

"I doubt it" said Severus.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick.**

**Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.**

"It is amazing how much flying encourages boasting," mused Minerva. While she loved Quidditch she hated the, sometimes rather fierce, arguments that come about with it.

**Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.**

**Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.** **Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.**

"We really should introduce other activities, it would make understanding each other easier and maybe form more inter- house- friendships," reminded them Poppy of their previous discussion.

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground. **

"And you are right. The poor boy is nearly as often my patient as you Harry," commented Poppy sadly.

**Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. ** **This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called **_**Quidditch Through the Ages**_**. **

"Oh that girl. Even my ravens aren't that into books. Sometimes there is only real life experience," told Filius fondly.

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. **

**Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. **

"I so hope he will grow to be a bit more compassionate," said Pomona wistfully, while Harry having finished his tea scooted closer to Severus who promptly enveloped him in a half hug.

**Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table. **

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.**

"**It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh…" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "… you've forgotten something…" **

**Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. **

Harry growled, he really hated Malfoy. If the boy would just leave him alone.

The teachers, having heard his growl, smiled. How could they have overlooked this boy? He was too cute for his own good. Why has no one seen him for what he really is? An abused little boy, starved for affection (and meals) who was now provoking all their protective parenting feelings.

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. **

Minerva threw herself up to her whole (seating) height, much to the amusement of everyone present. It took her years to accomplish it.

"**What's going on?" **

"**Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." **

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. **

"**Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. **

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. **

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. **

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. **

"Madam Hooch looks cool," exclaimed Harry enthused.

Albus chuckled: "You should tell her that. Often she is really sad about her looks."

Harry nodded, even if he couldn't understand her unhappiness.

"**Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." **

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. **

"**Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'" **

"**UP" everyone shouted. **

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. **

"And here it begins..." sighed Pomona.

**Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. **

"Interesting theory you have there Harry," mused Filius.

**Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

Harry smirked

"**Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —" **

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.**

"**Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and — **

**WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. **

Harry pressed himself closer to his Potions Professor. He would be happy if they really introduced some muggle sports at Hogwarts, then he could play something more harmless with his clumsy friend.

**His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight. **

"Good riddance," mumbled Harry.

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. **

"**Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get." **

**She turned to the rest of the class. **

"**None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." **

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him. **

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. **

"**Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

Severus grip on Harry tightened in his anger. He thought he had tought his Godson at least some morals: "It seems that Draco's newfound freedom got more to his head than his parents and I thought."

**The other Slytherins joined in. **

"**Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil. **

"**Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought **_**you'd **_**like fat little crybabies, Parvati." **

"**Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." **

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up. **

"**Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly.**

Minerva looked proudly at her little lion.

**Everyone stopped talking to watch. **

**Malfoy smiled nastily. **

"**I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?" **

"Grrr," Poppy growled. She was the perfect mix between all the house traits: Smart as any Ravenclaw, Sly as the Slytherins, Loyal as the Hufflepuff and Brave as the Gryffindors. And she used every bit in looking after her hatchlings.

"**Give it **_**here**_**!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he **_**could **_**fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!" **

**Harry grabbed his broom. **

"_**No!" **_**shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble." **

"Smart girl," smirked Severus.

"But unfortunatly not a smart way to speak to peers and prospective friends," added Pomona.

**Harry ignored her.**

**Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him — and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught — this was easy, this was _wonderful_. **

"One thing that is purely me and mine," said Harry.

**He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. **

"**Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!" **

"**Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried. **

Harry smiled, hearing about it nearly two years later made it sound even better.

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping. **

"**No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called. **

**The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy. **

"How these two got accepted and were able to move up to year two and now three is beyond me," groaned Severus.

"**Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.**

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching — he stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.**

"**HARRY POTTER!" **

**His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling. **

Severus wrapped his arms protectively around Harry's small form. The others smiled, even Minerva who was quite shocked that she could instill that much fear. How she wished it would work on the real culprits in the castle.

"_**Never **_**— in all my time at Hogwarts —" **

"Minerva, I never knew you to be a liar," stated Severus boldly.

At her odd look he elaborated: "Where you not present in the school years of the so called Marauders?"

The transfiguration teacher blushed.

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "— how _dare _you — might have broken your neck —" **

"**It wasn't his fault, Professor —" **

"**Be quiet, Miss Patil —" **

"**But Malfoy —" **

"**That's **_**enough**_**, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." **

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it. **

"Shows that even the greatest of us must eat our words, eh Harry?" chuckled the Headmaster.

**He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. **

**What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep? **

Harry whimpered at the thought and drew his sock clad feet up the couch to hide behind his knees.

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards, while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag. **

Minervas stomach churned, she should have talked to him, but on the other hand... he got of lightly a bit of trepidation...

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. **

"**Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?" **

**Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him? **

... Minerva rethought, with an abused child talking and a detention would be the better alternative.

"WHAT? A cane in my school? Harry, here you will never ever be subjected to corporal punishment and if it should happen you are to come straight to me. Is that understood?" demanded Albus. He was horrified about Harry's train of thought.

Harry flinched at the first outburst but eith Severus quiet reassurance he was able to nod at the Headmaster who took a calming breath to steady himself in his universe before reading again:

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused. **

"**Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry. **

"**In here." **

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard. **

"**Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys. **

"**Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker." **

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. **

Harry, having perked up a bit sniggered: "Oliver is really Quidditch obsessed. I found him crying after you cancelled Quidditch last year after that happened with Mione," he addressed his head of house.

"**Are you serious, Professor?" **

"**Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

**Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs. **

"**He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it." **

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once. **

"I'm sure they had," said Severus with a surly undertone. His Slytherins were dismayed to loose to Gryffindor. Even more so he himself had lost quite the bet against Minerva in the boys first year.

"**Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly. **

"**Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

"**He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light —speedy — **

Everyone looked at Madam Pomphrey who was again spitting in outrage: "If abuse and neglect forms your perfect Quidditch player this sport is even more..." she couldn't find the right word to express her feelings.

Severus, anticipating a rude comment had covered Harrys ears to keep at least some of his innocence, let his hands fall again, smirking at a confused Harry.

**we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say." **

"**I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule.**

"Bend? Break is more like it," said Severus and Poppy together, causing everyone to laugh and Albus to smile sheepish.

**Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. _Flattened _in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…" **

Severus grinned while Minerva huffed, this sentence should have never made it o the ears of the Master snake.

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry. **

"**I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you." **

**Then she suddenly smiled. **

"**Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself." **

"**You're **_**joking**_**." **

**It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.**

"That must be a first for young Mr. Weasley. If he hadn't such a high metabolism he would find himself fat really fast," mused Filius aloud.

Harry just nodded, he was always surprised by the amount of food all of the Weasleys could eat.

"_**Seeker**_**?" he said. "But first years **_**never **_**— you must be the youngest house player in about —" **

" — **a century," said Harry, shoveling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me." **

**Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry. **

"**I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." **

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over. **

"**Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too — Beaters."**

"**I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us." **

Chuckles sounded through the room.

"**Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school." **

"**Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you." **

"This is going to be interesting. I am curious if we will know about any new ways and rooms, " said Pomona excitedly.

Harry frowned: "But it wouldn't be nice if you lock them all up Professor."

"Ah, Harry, we will see about that once we know about them. If they are a danger to you students it is our duty to make them safe, in other words lock them up," reasoned Albus.

"Don't worry Harry. We know about more secret passages than you and even the Weasleys could think of," added Minerva proudly. (Not knowing she will eat her words ;) )

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. **

"**Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?" **

"**You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl. **

"Ah, your Slytherin side is showing," said Severus with a hint of pride that didn't go unnoticed by his colleagues, "but maybe you, Minerva, should take these three young men under your wing, they seem to make more out of their bravery than their cunning abilities."

Minerva huffed: "Funny you would say that. I have already thought about it. If it hadn't been drilled into Draco to be a Slytherin since he could listen he would have made a formidable Lion."

Pomona giggled: "I would love to tell that Malfoy senior."

"**I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. **

**What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?" **

"**Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?" Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up. **

Severus growled low in his throat: "Did Weasley just arrange a duel for you?"

Nodding Harry scooted closer to Filius who sat on the other side of their couch.

Filius ever the parent, he had three children of his own after all, planted him on his lap, even though Harry was a tad bit taller then he himself was.

Severus seeing this softened his facial features. It always stumped him how abused kids react. In some situations they were brave and mature like an adult when you would expect them to cower, and in others they were frightened and shy like a toddler although there was no real danger.

He assumed that he had just taken Harry by surprise because the boy seemed to be really comfortable with him.

"**Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." **

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other. **

"**What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?" **

"**Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie.**

Pomona sighed: "He can be quite unconcerned at times it seems."

**Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."**

"**And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" **

"**Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.**

"Well, that is a good advice," mumbled Severus. He had a funny cold feeling in his side.

"**Excuse me." **

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger. **

"**Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron. **

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. **

"**I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying —" **

"**Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

"— **and you **_**mustn't **_**go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you." **

"**And it's really none of your business," said Harry. **

"**Good-bye," said Ron. **

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing).**

"Huh?" Poppy was confused, "I've send him on his way early enough."

**Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them." **

**There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today.**

"You were," reprimanded Minerva sharply.

Harry ducked his head sheepishly.

**On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness — this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. He couldn't miss it. **

"**Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go." **

**They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry." **

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown. **

"Maybe we should test her if she was deaged,"chuckled Filius, "She certainly seems more like a grown up mother than an eleven year old girl.

"Smart girl, but again not good in social interactings," said Pomona.

Harry still thought about the comment from his charms teacher: "Deaging is it possible?"

"Yes, but it is a difficult and dangerous process. And it is no approach to elongate ones life," explained Filius, providing Harry with new material to think about.

"_**You!**_**" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!" **

"**I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this." **

**Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering. **"**Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole. **

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose. **

"**Don't you **_**care **_**about Gryffindor, do you **_**only **_**care about yourselves, **_**I **_**don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells." **

Minerva couldn't decide wether to laugh or scowl.

"**Go away." **

"**All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so —" **

**But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower. **

"**Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly. **

"**That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late." **

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them. **

"**I'm coming with you," she said. **

"**You are **_**not**_**." **

"**D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up." **

"**You've got some nerve —" said Ron loudly. **

"**Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." **

**It was a sort of snuffling. **

"**Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark. **

**It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer. **

"Just how many Gryffindors can be outside in one night without being caught? Even more so first years? Don't you do bedchecks Minerva?" asked Severus.

Minerva blushed: "In the last years I have neglected to do so. I really should reintroduce them, as well as the weekly house- meetings."

"You didn't do them anymore?" asked a perplex Filius, who couldn't understand it, the meetings were there to give the students a person to confide in. The normal school environment wasn't the right place for that. And as they had quite young charges who were nine month away from their parents and homes, it was necessary too.

"No, a few years ago I put the on hold as there was a really busy time and I never started them again."

Filius started rubbing Harrys back as he grew restless with the tension in the room.

Albus frowned: "If you have to much work, all you have to do is ask, but you really should start them again, maybe it will tame your lions a bit."

Minerva nodded.

"**Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed." **

'Oh Neville,' thought Harry, who was now very content to lay sprawled over his Professor.

"**Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere." **

"**How's your arm?" said Harry. **

Poppy smiled, at least one of them thought about Neville a bit more.

"**Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute." **

"**Good — well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later —" **

"**Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already." **

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville. **

"**If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Boogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you." **

"Isn't that the one Miss Weasley is so fond of?" queried Pomona.

Harry nodded sleepily: "Yeah, she used it on her brothers all the time at the beginning of her first year."

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward. **

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room. **

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by. **

"**He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered. **

"More like set you up," commented Severus, who motioned to Filius to hand Harry over as the Ravenclaw head of house grew a bit uncomfortable under the dead weight of the nearly asleep little lion.

Harry changed arms without much fuss and settled with a contented smile on Severus, much like a toddler.

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy. **

"**Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." **

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room. **

"**They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding." **

"**This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor. **

**The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle. **

"Amazing that this never made the grapvine to us," chuckled Albus.

"**RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room. **

"**I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering. **

"Physical education," was Poppy's statement to that, "we should make it mandatory next year. It would also give Rolanda a bit more work; she always complained that she only had the Quidditch teams at the end of the years."

"**I —**_**told **_**— you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."**

"Miones favourite phrase," mumbled Harry, who was once more curled up on the torso of one Severus Snape. Severus began rubbing his back like he had seen Filius do it, who seemed to have gotten the hang of it after rising three kids.

"**We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible." **

"**Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off." **

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that. **

"**Let's go." **

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. **

**It was Peeves. **

The teachers, chaught up in the story groaned, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't their adventure.

**He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight. **

"**Shut up, Peeves — please — you'll get us thrown out."**

**Peeves cackled. **

"**Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty." **

"**Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." **

"**Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know." **

"**Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake. **

"**STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" **

**Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked. **

"Isn't that..." Pomona trailed off at seeing the feared nods.

"**This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!" **

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts. **

"**Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. **

**She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "_Alohomora_!" **

"She could do that with Harry's wand? We should look into it sometime. That could be interesting," mused Albus.

**The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening. **

"**Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me." **

"**Say 'please.'" **

"Okay, they won't be revealed by him," deducted Severus.

"**Don't mess with me, Peeves, now **_**where did they go**_**?" **

"**Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice. **

"**All right —**_**please**_**." **

"**NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage. **

"**He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay — get **_**off**_**, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. "**_**What**_**?" **

**Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. **

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. **

**They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

"Mhh, on the one hand a good way to make them stay away from the corridor, on the other hand was it sure first class nightmare material for first years," mentioned Filius.

Minerva ducked her head, much like Harry had done before, if she had conducted the house- meetings she would most likely know about the fears of her firsties.

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant. **

**Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, he'd take Filch. **

**They fell backward — Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor.**

**Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor. **

"That's a good distance, especially for someone who has small legs and generally not much energy reserve," commended Pomona, looking at the now sleeping Harry, who fitted quite nicely to the form of the Potion Master despite his age.

"**Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces. **

"**Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. **

**It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again. **

"**What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does." **

"I hate to admit it, but Weasley is right," said Severus, he didn't look like it but he liked animals even if they weren't in his jars.

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?" **

"**The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads." **

"**No, **_**not **_**the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something." **

**She stood up, glaring at them. **

"**I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

"She really needs to sort out her priorities," chuckled Albus. (AN: I really, really loved this sentence in the film)

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open. **

"**No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you." **

**But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something… What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts. **

**It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was. **

"Too intelligent for his own good," grumbled Severus softly.

"That was it for this chapter. How about a lunchbreak, or should we read one more chapter seeing as Harry has his nap now?"


	11. Chapter 10 Halloween

Disclaimer: See Disclaimer of previous chapters.

Hey guys,

Thank you for your many reviews! You are really spoiling me.

I am not totally happy with it but this chapter was a real trial for my imagination.

Nevertheless, I wish you a fun reading!

Love; Alena

Ps: If you have a wish what you would like to happen I am always open to hear about it. I can't promise that I will use it; but it may help making some chapters more interesting.

-Change in Perception-

After shortly discussing if they should wake Harry to eat lunch or reading further ahead with him taking a nap it was soon agreed upon to read because no one was really hungry at the moment and Harry looked quite peaceful.

So it was Minerva starting to read the next chapter:

**Chapter Ten: Halloween**

**Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.**

**Indeed, by the next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. **

**In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection. **

"**It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.**

"Or both," said Severus sarcastically.

"**Or both," said Harry.**

They chuckled. "Are you sure you aren't related?" smirked Albus.

Severus looked stumped and chose not to comment.

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues. **

**Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. **

**Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. **

Filius flinched: "Poor girl. Thank god, they have made up to each other later."

**All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later. **

"Why are boys always looking for revenge?" sigehd Poppy. Too often was her infirmary the last station of those confrontations.

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. **

Minerva smiled, she still remembered Harry's happy smile as he received the Nimbus. It had been totally worth the rather high prize that the broom had cost her.

**Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said: **

_**DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. **_

_**It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. **_

_**Professor McGonagall **_

"You gave it to him?" asked an incredulous Pomona, "ah well, I guess my theory that his family gave him the broom was silly," she ended with a sigh.

**Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read. **

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even **_**touched **_**one." They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it. **

Severus clenched his teeth. He felt as if he failed his godson. He had promised himself when Draco was born that he would not let him become like his father. It looked like he had some work to do, to make Draco a worthy member of society.

"**That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them." **

**Ron couldn't resist it. **

"Of course not," sighed Poppy.

"**It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus." **

"**What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig." **

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. **

"**Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked. **

"**Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly. **

"Not quite Slytherin enough, your little Snake, Severus," chuckled Filius remembering the confrontation, "Not knowing all the details before accusing someone."

Severus nodded unhappily.

"**Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?" **

"Thanks Filius," said Minerva, she was glad that her colleague seemed happy for her little lion.

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand, it is," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added. **

"Well, _that_ was quite Slytherin," said an amused Poppy.

**Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion. **

"**Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team…" **

"**So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them.**

**Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand. **

"I swear, if I hadn't seen her birthdate I would think she is a fourty year old mother of at least five kids," groaned Minerva.

"**I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry. **

"**Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good." **

The adults smiled.

"I don't know if I should be annoyed with the boys," mused Pomona, "after all, if I were in the role of a student I would have answered like Mr. Weasley."

**Hermione marched away with her nose in the air. **

**Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where he'd be learning to play that night. **

**He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating, **

Poppy tutted. She would have to create an eating plan with a few rules for the soon to be third year.

**and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. **

"**Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Harry's bedspread. **

**Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top. **

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. He had never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high. **

Albus, who had no idea what Harry was thinking of, turned to his Potion Master who was the most experienced of them in the Muggle world.

Severus sighed, he had the hunch that Albus would have a new favourite toy: "It is as Harry had said: It is a children game. You have soapwater and a little piece that looks like our Quidditch goals, you dunk the rod into the water and then blow through the ring to produce soapbuds."

Severus closed his eyes for a second and with a pop six blow-bubbles-bottles (sorry, I have no idea what they are called in English and sadly my OED doesn't know either. I would be really grateful if you could help me) appeared. He gave one to everyone awake and showed how it was done. In no time at all the air was filled with bubbles and the adults minus Severus, who rolled his eyes, giggled.

Who would have thought that Muggle games were so much fun?

**Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. **

**What a feeling**— **he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch. **

Some of the adults sighed dreamily.

"**Hey, Potter, come down!" **

**Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him. **

"**Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant… you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week." **

**He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls. **

"**Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers." **

"**Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball. **

"**This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?" **

"**The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So — that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?" **

"**What's basketball?" said Wood curiously. **

"**Never mind," said Harry quickly. **

"**Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper — I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring." **

"**Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box. **

"**I'll show you now," said Wood.**

"Show?" asked Poppy irritated, "Without a beater there?"

**"Take this." **

**He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat. **

"**I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers." **

**He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box. **

"**Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers. **

**At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. **

Despite knowing that Harry was alright, as far as possible at least Quidditch wise, paled the faculty.

**Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground. **

"**See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team — the Weasley twins are ours — it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you've got all that?" **

"**Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off. **

"**Very good," said Wood. **

"**Er — have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand. **

Again at ease the teachers smiled. Harry hadn't quite mastered that coolness yet.

"**Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers —" **

"— **unless they crack my head open." **

"**Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers — I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves." **

"That's right," said Minerva proudly.

**Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings. **

"_**This**_**," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. **

**That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.**

"Ah, that was a great game," remembered the Headmaster, "I was there to see it actually, it had the highest score in history, too."

**Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem. **

"Pah," grumbled Severus, "as if the boy had any problems doing it. It was pure luck on Slytherin side that Gryffindor hadn't won in the last two years."

"**We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these." **

**He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.**

"Where did he get the golf balls? Isn't he a pureblood?" asked Filius. It was actually a good idea to use these balls, he would have to suggest that to his team.

"Yes, Wood is, but we have these balls for quite some time in our possession and a Muggleborn Seeker brought them with her one year in the 1960's, if I remember correctly," answered Minerva.

**Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on. **

"**That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle.**

It was Minervas turn to grumble.

**"I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons." **

Albus smiled: "I still don't know what Molly would have preferred."

**Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had.**

Albus smile faded, as did the others.

**His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.**

**On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. **

**Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye). **

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.**

"**Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor** **Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."**

Severus remembered the speech from his first year: "Did it really happen? Because I think Black tried it and I think it didn't work."

"No, nothing will happen, but it makes the children listen, at least most of them, and try to pronounce it correctly," explained the Charms Master with a smirk, shocking Severus with it.

"That is rather Slytherin of you."

**It was very difficult. **

**Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Harry had to put it out with his hat.**

**Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.**

"**Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.**

"**You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."**

"**You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.**

"Wrong move," said Filius while shaking his head fondly.

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.**

"**Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"**

**Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.**

"**It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."**

**Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face — and was startled to see that she was in tears.**

"**I think she heard you."**

"**At least one of the boys..." said Pomona **

"**So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."**

"Maybe someone should talk to Mr. Weasley," mused Pomona, "there has to be a way to make his self- esteem a healthy one."

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.**

It was rather fortunate for Harry to be asleep at this moment. Otherwise he would get an earful from the irrated witches in the room.

**A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.**

**Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."**

**He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.**

"Pathetic," grumbled Severus.

**There was in an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.**

"**Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"**

Severus slapped his forehead, which made him object of some concerned looks: "Headmaster, I forgot before: How could you sent my Snakes to their dotmitories? They _are_ in the dungeons!"

"Upps?" by now the others caught on and looked at Albus with reproval.

"I can't believe none of us thought of that," said Filius in self-reproach.

"My prefects thought of it," remarked the Head of the Snakes.

**Percy was in his element.**

"**Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"**

"**How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.**

"Good question," groused Poppy.

"**Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."**

"Not even the damn Poltergeist would let a troll in, he loves the students too much," contered Minerva the suggestion.

**They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.**

"**I've just thought — Hermione."**

"Oh no," exclaimed Pomona, her hand over her mouth in shock. With the faux-pax over the Slytherins she too had forgotten about Hermione.

"**What about her?"**

"**She doesn't know about the troll."**

**Ron bit his lip.**

"**Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."**

"Percy should have been the first choice!" reprimanded Filius.

Sensing the agitation in the room Harry stirred and mumbled something incoherent but was quickly calmed by Severus calming hand on his back. He settled again with a hand fisting in the mens robe like a safety blanket.

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.**

Pomona, who hadn't heard about this stunt of the golden Trio, sighed in relief, which was rather short lived.

"**Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin.**

**Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. **

Severus cursed, he had been so near.

**He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.**

"**What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"**

"**Search me."**

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.**

"**He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.**

"**Can you smell something?"**

**Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.**

"Oh no, the Troll,"mumbled Pomona, white as a sheet.

**And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.**

**It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.**

"That's a good definition, one could use that in the textbooks," said Filius impressed.

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.**

"**The keys are in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."**

"**Good idea," said Ron nervously.**

"There are only the toilets there: definitely not good," said Poppy aghast.

**They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.**

"**Yes!"**

"No!"

**Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop — a high, petrified scream — and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.**

Even with knowing how it ended, the adults turned pale, while their charge snored on happily.

"**Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.**

"**It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.**

"**Hermione!" they said together.**

"How is it that three first years, at the beginning of their education, survived this without a scratch?" asked Poppy disbelievingly, "I didn't had them in my infirmary around Halloween."

**It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? **

**Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.**

"And this is what makes them Gryffindors..." declared Severus with a bit of disdain.

"What? The bravery; that they help a fellow student despite of their own fear?" contered Minerva miffed.

"No, that they go into a situation without knowing how to solve it, without even thinking about going for help."

Minerva chose not to answer.

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went. **

"**Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.**

"That was brilliant," Filius was amazed with Harry's way of thinking in exceptional circumstances.

The others nodded.

**The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.**

Severus tightened his arm around Harry instinctively.

"**Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.**

"**Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.**

"Of all the times, she chose that moment to freeze?" Pomona asked.

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.**

**Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid:**

Severus lowered his head resigned into Harrys hair. _Be glad you are asleep, boy._

**He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind.**

"It seems that Harry here has a strange affinity to jumping on big people," smiled Albus

**The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.**

"Eww, of all the things to do with a wand."

**Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.**

Harry moved in his sleep as the arm holding him tightened even more.

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

"Great. Doing the one spell one hasn't mastered yet," said Severus exasperated.

**The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.**

Severus had to eat his words and was punished by a soft giggle from his chest region.

"Good morning, brat. Having fun listening on us?"

Harry just snuggled back, closing his eyes, savouring the moment while it lasted.

**Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.**

**It was Hermione who spoke first.**

"**Is it — dead?"**

"**I don't think so," said Harry, "I think it's just been knocked out."**

"Stands there, cool as a cucumber after nearly getting killed by a twelve feet mountain troll,"commented Filius incredulous, not knowing if it was a good thing that he had such a low thinking of his own life.

**He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.**

"**Urgh — troll boogers."**

"Very useful in some potions," added Severus with a smirk, making the female population wrinkled their noses in disgust.

**He wiped it on the troll's trousers.**

**A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars.**

Minerva halted in her reading: "That reminds me: Miss Granger lied to us!"

Before the others could ask, she continued to read:

**A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.**

Severus just breathed in to growl about this man when he heard one coming from his package on his lap. Surprised he looked down, to see a murderous expression on the normally quite cute face.

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. **

"Uhu, that is pretty angry on the Minerva-scale," chuckled Pomona.

Her answer was a death glare.

**Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.**

The Head- Lioness shaked her head: "That they even thought about it!"

Harry was happy that the teachers behaved as if he was still sleeping.

"**What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. **

**"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"**

**Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down.**

**Then a small voice came out of the shadows.**

"**Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me."**

"**Miss Granger!"**

**Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.**

"**I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I've read all about them."**

"Ah, that is what you meant, Minerva," smirked Filius.

"A lie that was quite unnecessary. If they had told the truth they may could have gone without punishment," added Severus.

**Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?**

"**If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."**

**Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.**

"You failed," said Severus to Harry, who was still cuddled into his robe but turned sideways so he could look at the others.

"**Well — in that case…" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"**

**Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.**

"I should try this at the beginning of the year. And invite little Creevey to it," the Potion Master had a terrifying smile on his face.

Harry giggled despite of the face.

"**Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."**

**Hermione left.**

**Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.**

"**Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."**

**They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.**

"**We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.**

"**Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."**

"**Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."**

"She might not have needed saving..." began Pomona but was interrupted by Minerva who chuckled, as she had continued to read ahead.

"**She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.**

"Great minds think alike, don't they, Mr. Potter?"chuckled the Herbology Mistress.

Harry smiled: "Could you all call me Harry while we are here? I always found it irritating that you call kids Mr. And Miss. I mean, we live together in the year for longer than most live with their parents. I understand that we have to call you Professor, but couldn't you at least call us children by our given names?"

"For now we should do that, Harry," the Headmaster said after seeing the nods from the others, "for the school year I have to talk to the governors first, as it is a long tradition."

"It is a good idea you have there, Harry," commended Filius, "for the time being you have my permission to call me 'Filius' if you like, as we will be living together for some time, or rather no time at all, here, if the thickness of the coming books is any indication."

The other adults followed his example, making the youngest blush, a bit uncomfortable with the situation but also quite happy, proved by the beaming smile.

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.**

"**Pig snout," they said and entered.**

**The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.**

**But from that moment on, Hermione Grange became their friend.**

"Quite the story to become friends," said Poppy amused, "but I am so glad that most people prefer safer ways."

"Think of what they could tell their children," laughed Albus, making Harry blushing deep red.

**There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.**

"And with that the chapter ends."


	12. Chapter 11 Quidditch

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers stand.

_Hello guys,_

_I am soo sorry I didn't update sooner. I was quite surprised to see that so much time has passed. _

_But know this: I will never abandon this story as I think there is nothing worse than starting something and then just let it be. It may take some time as I am busy with university and making money. _

_But I have kept you long enough and won't bore you any longer._

_Have fun reading!_

-Change in Perception-

"So, I think it is about time we eat something," suggested Poppy and with a "pop" the table was filled with lunch.

To Harrys delight there were chicken nuggets and chips on it as well as some vegetables (beside fried potatoes...). Poppy didn't know wether she should be angry or thrilled. While it certainly didn't fit in her healthy collumn of food it was rich and it seemed to trigger Harry's appetite.

As it did the others. Everyone had a huge lunch and after they were happily filled they made their way back to the reading area. Harry seated himself again by "his Severus" side. The adults were a little drowsy after eating. But as Harry already had his nap they couldn't make it seem as if he needed one and they were quite too proud to show their tiredness.

So with a surpressed yawn Filius started to read the next chapter:

**Chapter Eleven: Quidditch**

"Yay," Harry smiled.

Severus rolled his eyes.

**As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost.**

"It's so beautiful," sighed Pomona dreamily. The others nodded, their home was beautiful at all times.

**Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.**

**The Quidditch season had begun.**

Harry was giddy and bounced a little in his seat. The professors smiled indulgently.

**On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.**

**It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn't know how he'd have gotten through all his homework without her,**

"I do hope you are not copying her work," said Minerva sternly.

"No, but she was there to explain things to Ron, giving me more time for my own stuff," answered Harry, making the teachers looking stumped.

"**What with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.**

Severus remembered the incident involving said book and winced.

**Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.**

"Does anyone know where he was in the meantime? You can't just spend month non-existing?!" wondered Harry.

Filius smiled: "Interesting question you have there, Harry. But as far as I know this mystery isn't solved, yet."

The others nodded in affirmative.

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it.**

Albus chuckled: "I shouldn't support such behavior but Miss Granger character surely did win from it."

**The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. **

"That is great," gushed Harry, "and its light is really good at night."

"Like a nightlight?" asked Severus, who wondered if Harry was scared of the dark after all his time in the cupboard.

Harry blushed embarassed: "Yeah, I mean I can sleep in darkness, but it is nice to see if you wake up at night. And the warmth is comforting."

"No need to be embarassed, young Harry," smiled Poppy, "I myself have enjoyed a nightlight untill my late teens."

The resident Potion master thought more about it and resloved to get Harry a plush toy, he doubted that the boy ever had one and it would be much nicer to cuddle with, than a jar of flames.

**They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. **

It was Severus turn to blush embarassed.

Albus smiled indulgently: "Ah, of course it is allowed. When we teachers send you outside to get some fresh air we don't want you to freeze. So it is allowed to use any source of warmth as long as it is not dangerous to oneself or the others."

**Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.**

"**What's that you've got there, Potter?"**

**It was **_**Quidditch Through the Ages**_**. Harry showed him.**

"**Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."**

"You just made that rule up," remarked Minerva, "not even Irma is so obsessed with her books."

"**He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily **

Harry and Minerva looked at each other. Minerva winked at him and said: "Great minds think alike, don't they Harry?"

**as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"**

"**Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.**

Severus winced, Harry looked down: "I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be sorry. Yes, these words hurt, but I can't say I am without blame. I am no saint."

**The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.**

"That was Ron, who started it. He whined until Mione had enough and helped him, plus: She can't resist when someone asks a question," grinned Harry to chuckles from the staff.

"Didn't that endanger your plans to keep us finding from how smart your really are?"

"A bit, but as Ron was getting better it was okay."

**Harry felt restless. He wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? **

Severus loomed above Harry and said with a mocking dark whisper: "I know of many reasons. One of them is this!" And with that he began to tickle Harry until they both laughed so hard that they couldn't breathe anymore.

By now the others all had that amused knowing twinkle in their eyes which the youngest two ignored. The Headmaster had the forethought to think of a camera at lunch, which was provided by the castle and snapped a photo. He remembered Harry not having any pictures of his parents so he surely didn't have some of himself that he could show his kids later on.

And with his apearance right know he could go for a five year old, so maybe he yould make up some lost time.

**Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it.**

"**Better you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening.**

"How... Slytherin of you," commented Severus with a smirk.

Minerva mock gasped and clutched her heart making Harry giggle again.

**He made his way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing.**

**Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes.**

Minerva who had read slightly ahead, smiled. She decided to use this wonderful opportunity to draw this passage out and make the Potions Master suffer for a bit.

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone. **

The adults grasped the second meaning behind it and chuckled; only Harry, who didn't get it, and Severus, who looked quite murderous, didn't.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees. **

"Wohoo," teased Poppy a red faced Dungeon master.

Severus finally snapped: "You do know we have a youngster in our mid?!"

"**One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.**

"Severus, why didn't you come to me! Am I not the resident Mediwitch? I'm getting paid for that. Just because you are an adult doesn't make you all knowing! Do you know what all could have happened to your leg? For starters you could have lost it, all because you are so stubborn!"

"**Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"**

"**Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but —**

"**POTTER!"**

"Uhu, that does not sound good," murmured Filius.

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.**

"**I just wondered if I could have my book back."**

"And there is the Gryffindor side coming through," said Pomona, "even I do not like to talk to Severus if he looks like that."

"I'm not that bad," protested said man. The others knew better than to comment.

"**GET OUT! OUT! "**

**Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs.**

"All seven floors?" asked a surprised mediwitch.

"It's not so hard,"shrugged Harry, "but I usually get slower the longer I am away from the Dursleys. They are kind of my training program."

No one knew what to say so Minerva started to read again:

"**Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?"**

**In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen.**

"**You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him — he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"**

"Be grateful no one took you up to it," said Severus.

Harry who had looked at Severus apologetically smiled a bit and nodded. He really loved his Nimbus.

"**Hermione's eyes were wide.**

"**No — he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."**

**"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"**

**Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours –**

**but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

**"You've got to eat some breakfast."**

"Yes, you do," chided Poppy. She couldn't resist an opportunity to mother someone.

"**I don't want anything."**

"**Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.**

"**I'm not hungry."**

**Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking onto the field.**

The head of houses apart of his own looked skeptically at him: "You were nervous? You look like you were born on a broom!"

"**Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnegan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."**

"Way to make one feel more secure," mumbled Harry.

**"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

**By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.**

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined."**

"**It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colors."**

"It really looked great," sighed Minerva. She just loved Quidditch on and off the field. The atmosphere with the watchers was sometimes better than sitting on a broom itself.

"**Meanwhile, in the locker room, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green).**

**Wood cleared his throat for silence.**

"**Okay, men," he said.**

"And women," snickered Harry.

"**And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.**

"And women. This is it."

**"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."**

"The big one."

**"The big one," said Fred Weasley.**

"The one we've all been waiting for," said Harry now full out loughing, even more so as he saw the teachers look.

"**The one we've all been waiting for," said George.**

**"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry, "we were on the team last year."**

"**Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."**

**He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."**

**"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."**

**Harry followed Fred and George out of the locker room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked onto the field to loud cheers.**

**Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.**

"**Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her."**

**Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.**

Severus nodded: "His great grandfather was a troll. We found out while we brewed the ancestor potion. Flint was not particularly happy about it."

**Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.**

"**Mount your brooms, please."**

**Harry clambered onto his Nimbus Two Thousand.**

"It really looked like you were climbing instead of mounting. Even more so in comparison to your class mates," remembered Severus much to the embarassment of Harry.

He liked how the teachers treated him like a child right now, but he didn't like it when he was reminded on how small he was.

**Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.**

**Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.**

**"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —"**

Harry giggled

**"JORDAN!"**

"**Sorry, Professor."**

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.**

"**And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet,** **a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"**

"**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.**

"**Budge up there, move along."**

"Hu?"

"**Hagrid!"**

**Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them."**

"Ah, a change of location."

**"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"**

"**Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."**

"**Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry.**

**Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.**

"**Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."**

"Rather wise," said Poppy. She didn't like the game played by students. Too much could be damaged. That is why she never went to see the games, it was bad enough treating the injuries and now she had to witness it.

"**When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.**

"**All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint.**

"**Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a moment — was that the Snitch?"**

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear."**

**Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch — all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.**

**Harry was faster than Higgs — he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead — he put on an extra spurt of speed —**

**WHAM! **

Poppy whimpered. She wasn't faint hearted at least not with injuries, but this...

**A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below — Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.**

Severus grabbed Harry to put him onto his lap again. He could not always understand himself, but this lion had grown on him quite quickly.

"**Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.**

**Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.**

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"**

**"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.**

"**Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"**

"**But this isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him.**

"But it is a very good idea," Albus contemplated, "at least for the school games. It would make some players think twice about making a foul."

"Yes, and if they are too often they could be suspended," added Filius.

**Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.**

"**They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."**

**Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.**

"**So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —"**

**"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.**

"**I mean, after that open and revolting foul…"**

In retrospect everyone found it quite funny, even Severus whose team it was against.

"**Jordan, I'm warning you—"**

"**All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure,**

Harry couldn't stop giggling. "I think I am going to quit playing. Up in the air it's nearly impossible to hear the commentary..."

He could not say anything more as Minerva started to rant how he could surely NOT quit and if he did he would face lifelong detention.

**so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."**

**It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head, that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch."**

Harrys good mood was gone as he rememberd that. "That was really scary," he murmured and cuddled into Severus who enveloped him in a hug.

"**For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that.**

**It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off."**

"**But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal-posts — he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out — and then he realized that his broom was completely out of his control. **

Harry whimpered and clutched at Severus T-Shirt missing the long robes that he could use like a safety blanket and to hide in.

**He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him. Lee was still commentating.**

"**Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — A no…"**

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.**

"**Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…"**

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it.**

Severus carded his hand through Harrys baby-soft hair which seemed to calm both of them equally.

**He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.**

"**Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.**

"**Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."**

**At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd."**

**"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, gray-faced.**

"**I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape — look."**

Harry looked up at Severus and whispered: "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath.**

**"He's doing something — jinxing the broom," said Hermione.**

"**What should we do?"**

"**Leave it to me."**

"She didn't!" gasped Severus, finally catching on what Harry meant.

"What did she do?" enquired Poppy curious but was put of by the Potions master.

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell."**

"**Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing."**

**"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.**

**Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front.**

"And that would have been enough," grouched Severus.

"**Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's robes."**

"She didn't!" echoed Pomona.

"**It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — Snape would never know what had happened."**

"Wrong," growled said person. It had hurt like hell and his favourite trousers were destroyed.

"**It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.**

"**Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes."**

Harry smiled weakly: "Neville is a good friend."

"**Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick — he hit the field on all fours — coughed — and something gold fell into his hand."**

"Only you, Harry, would catch the Snitch witch your mouth," chuckled Minerva.

**"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.**

"**He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference —"**

"**Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results — Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though.**

"You didn't visit me, so what were you up to?" asked Poppy.

"Yes, normally no one can make your team stop partying until well into the night," complained Minerva.

**He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione."**

"**It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."**

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.**

"That's the best," said the Headmaster," At least most of the time," he amended after a thought.

"**I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."**

**Hagrid dropped the teapot.**

"**How do you know about Fluffy?" he said."**

"Fluffy... wherever does he come up with these names?" debated Filius.

**"Fluffy?"**

"**Yeah — he's mine — bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year — I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the —"**

**"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.**

"You would do good to remember to keep your nose out of things that aren't yours to contemplate," rebuked Severus albeit gently.

"**Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."**

"**But Snape's trying to steal it."**

"**Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."**

"**So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.**

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.**

"**I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! **

"Maybe not everything comes from books," added Pomona, "sometimes one has to think in a situation and listen to your elders."

**You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"**

"Just bad that the counterjinx looks the same," said Severus grumpily.

**"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh — yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —"**

**"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"**

**Hagrid looked furious with himself."**

"As he should be," ended Minerva the chapter.

"Ah, but we know that Hagrid is bad with keeping secrets," soothed Albus, before summoning the book into his hands and beginning to read.


	13. The Mirror of Erised

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

-Change in Perception-

After Albus cleared his throat he began to read.

**Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Erised**

Albus looked at Harry sharply. This would not be one of the happier chapters. He remembered the night clearly; he had felt restless and was wandering the halls that night when he met Harry.

**Christmas was coming.**

"My First real christmas!" said Harry happily. The teachers looked at him weirdly but soon understood, by the way his birthdays were celebrated, why should he be allowed to take part in the Christmas celebrations?

"What was Christmas like at the Dursleys?" asked Filius curious.

"Well, I would clean the whole house on the 23rd make their christmas dinner all through the 24th while they put up the tree and decorated it and then I would spend the rest of Christmas in my room," answered Harry with a shrug.

**One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. **

Harry giggled: "I should tell them what was underneath!"

Pomona and the other teachers paled and hoped that You-know-who would not remember this happening.

**The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.**

"Thank God Hedwig wasn't delivering anything on these days," said Harry relieved and looked fontly to his owl.

**No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.**

"Couldn't you at least warm it slightly up?" queried Minerva, exasperated with the weird humor of her colleague and friend.

"Why should I start to heat a room where fires are lit the whole day long?" said Severus.

**"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."**

**He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them.**

"Grrr, how an eleven year old can be this cruel is unbelievable to me!" said Poppy frustrated.

**Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. **

Severus mentally added another point to his long list of things to talk about with Draco.

**Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.**

**It was true that Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. **

**Ron and his brothers were staying, too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.**

**When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.**

**"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.**

"That was really nice of Ron, considering he always shies away from work," said Minerva.

"Well, he could see, that there was no way he could help," said Severus deprecatingly.

"Hey! We could open doors for him and such," threw Harry in.

Severus nodded reluctantly. He hadn't thought about that.

**"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."**

**"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."**

"That boy!"

**Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.**

**"WEASLEY!"**

"Right place, wrong time," said Filius.

**Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.**

**"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."**

**"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."**

"Severus, I really hope you change after our reading here," scolded Pomona.

"I swear, I will."

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.**

**"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him -"**

**"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."**

Severus winced, but knew he deserved it.

"I like you now," said Harry and gave his Professor a quick hug.

**"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."**

**So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to -the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.**

"Why can't the students help?" asked Harry. He always wanted to try it out.

"We never thought to ask and no one asked us," answered Filius.

**"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?"**

**The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.**

**"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.**

**"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me -Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."**

**"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.**

"Could you teach me that charm?"

"Of course, Harry."

**"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"**

**"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."**

Everyone laughed at this.

**"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."**

"Poor Hagrid, you really made his life difficult," chuckled the Headmaster.

**"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.**

**"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I've read his name somewhere."**

**"I'm sayin' nothin, said Hagrid flatly.**

**"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left**

**Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.**

**They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. **

**And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.**

"A good opportunity to grab some knowledge left and right," added Filius. That was one of the reasons he loved research for.

**Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. **

**Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. **

**Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.**

**"What are you looking for, boy?"**

"Oh, Irma has a special eye on her restricted section," interjected Minerva.

**"Nothing," said Harry.**

**Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him.**

**"You'd better get out, then. Go on - out!"**

**Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library. He, Ron, and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.**

Severus grimaced. It was really awkward hearing about oneself in such a way.

**Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other two had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.**

"Everyones dream," sighed Filius, who as a teacher had access to it, but it too was always under the watchful eye of Madam Pince.

**Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined him, shaking their heads.**

**They went off to lunch.**

**"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. **

**"And send me an owl if you find anything."**

**"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."**

**"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.**

They all chuckled.

**Once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. **

**They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork - bread, English muffins, marshmallows - and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.**

"That was a great time. Last year was not so great with the whole chamber thing," remembered Harry.

**Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family - in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted. Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnigan had lent him, and they didn't trust him at all. He wasn't a very good player yet and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing. "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him." **

**On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all.**

"That's so sad," said Poppy. She would make this years Christmas magnificient for both her boys.

**When he woke early in the morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.**

**"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.**

**"You, too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"**

**"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's.**

**Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like an owl.**

**A second, very small parcel contained a note. We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.**

**"That's friendly," said Harry.**

"I was so surpised they even went so far to send me something."

**Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.**

**"Weird!" he said, "What a shape! This is money?"**

"Just like his father," said Minerva with a smile. She was often 'tackled' with Arthurs questions as she knew some things from her travels to the firstyears.

**"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle - so who sent these?"**

**"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom. I told her you didn't expect any presents and - oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley sweater."**

"That was the best present," smiled Harry bouncing on Severus lap. "She made it just for me!"

Albus was a bit disappointed that the cloak wasn't the best but also surprised; not many young boys would vote like Harry.

**Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.**

**"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."**

"Sometimes it's better to say something instead of just suffering. So everyone can enjoy the presents- the giver as much as the receiver," said Pomona wisely.

**"That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.**

**His next present also contained candy - a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione.**

**This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.**

**Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. **

**Ron gasped.**

**"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is - they're really rare, and really valuable."**

**"What is it?"**

**Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.**

**"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is - try it on."**

"Who is so mental to send an invisibility cloak to an eleven year old, who furthermore just knew about magic for about four months?" questioned Poppy, while everyone apart from Albus nodded agreeable.

"ALBUS!"

**Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.**

**"It is! Look down!"**

**Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone.**

"That was so weird in the beginning!"

**He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.**

**"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"**

**Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing** **he had never seen before were the following words: **

_**Your father left this in my possession before he died.**_

_**It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.**_

_**A Very Merry Christmas to you.**_

**There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak.**

**"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?"**

**"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father?**

**Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak quickly out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.**

"Wise decision, I shudder to think of the possibilities of the twins with an invisibility cloak," said Severus.

The other teachers paled before nodding. Harry giggled, he knew of the map. The twins didn't need a cloak anymore.

**"Merry Christmas!"**

**"Hey, look - Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!"**

**Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.**

**"Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."**

**"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."**

**"I hate maroon," Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head.**

**"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid - we know we're called Gred and Forge."**

**"What's all this noise?**

**Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.**

**"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one."**

**"I - don't - want said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.**

**"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."**

"There they speak wisely for once!" said Poppy.

**They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.**

**Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce - and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favours were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.**

**Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.**

"Oh no! I had hoped no one saw this," moaned Minerva embarassed.

**When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of nonexplodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and his own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.**

**Harry and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.**

**After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.**

**It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to think about it: the invisibility cloak and whoever had sent it.**

**Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster. Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it.**

**His father's... this had been his father's. **

The adults all got teary eyed. It wasn't fair that they could remember Harry's parents while he had so little of them.

**He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said.**

**He had to try it, now. **

"No, you don't. The next day in daylight would be perfectly alright, " lamented Pomona.

**He slipped out of bed and wrapped the cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling.**

**Use it well.**

**Suddenly, Harry felt wide-awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him in this cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark and silence. He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know.**

The teachers groaned.

**Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him? Something held him back - his father's cloak - he felt that this time - the first time – he wanted to use it alone.**

**He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole. **

**"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Harry said nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor.**

**Where should he go? He stopped, his heart racing, and thought. And then it came to him. The Restricted Section in the library. **

"Well, at least the goal I can recommend. Not many would choose the library," said Filius approvingly.

"But Filius! He wants to go to the Restricted Section!" admonished Pomona.

"No, I wantED to go there. It is long past," added Harry slightly annoyed. For him it was all long in the past.

**He'd be able to read as long as he liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. He set off, drawing the invisibility cloak tight around him as he walked.**

**The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.**

**The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up his lamp to read the titles.**

**They didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. **

"It probably was. There is a reason that they are restricted, you know," said Severus exasperated.

Harry just shrugged into his side.

**The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.**

**He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. **

**He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.**

**A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence - the book was screaming!**

"That was so scary! I didn't expect books to be able to scream!" shuddered Harry in remembrance.

**Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. He stumbled backward and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside - stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. He passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him, and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears.**

**He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. He had been so busy getting away from the library, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognize where he was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be five floors above there.**

"You do not navigate by armours through the castle, do you? There are about 358 amours all over it!" informed Minerva.

**"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library -Restricted Section."**

**Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."**

**Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him - the cloak didn't stop him from being solid.**

"To think we were that close,"said Severus, shaking his head.

**He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. **

**He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past, and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.**

**It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket - but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.**

**It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. **

"Hu?"

"I show not your face, but your hearts desire," 'translated' Harry, who often remembered the few nights he spent in front of it.

"What language is that?" asked Minerva interested.

"English, it's just spelled backwards,"grinned Harry.

**His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. He stepped in front of it.**

**He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. **

"What happened?!" Poppy was afraid something bad happened. They gossiped so much in this castle but these stories never made it around.

**He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed - for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.**

**But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror.**

**There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder - but still, no one was there. Or were they all invisible, too? **

Severus got the meaning of it and hugged Harry to him. He could imagine who Harry saw with him.

**Was he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?**

"That is a scary thought," mused Filius.

Harry shuddered: "It was even scarier standing there in the semi dark thinking it:"

**He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air - she and the others existed only in the mirror.**

**She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes – her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. **

Severus swallowed hard.

**Bright green - exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. ** **The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. ** **He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as** **Harry's did.** **Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.**

**"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"**

Everyone looked sadly at Harry who was once again on the Potions Master lap. head buried in his neck.

**They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror, and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees - Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life.**

**The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.**

"That's what makes it so dangerous," warned Albus.

**How long he stood there, he didn't know. The reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. He couldn't stay here, he had to find his way back to bed. He tore his eyes away from his mother's face, whispered, "I'll come back," and hurried from the room.**

**"You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly.**

**"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."**

**"I'd like to see your mom and dad," Ron said eagerly.**

**"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."**

**"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. **

**Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"**

**Harry couldn't eat. He had seen his parents and would be seeing them again tonight. He had almost forgotten about Flamel. It didn't seem very important anymore. Who cared what the three headed dog was guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really?**

"Oh no! Albus how could you leave this artefact in an unlocked room?" scolded Pomona.

**"Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."**

**What Harry feared most was that he might not be able to find the mirror room again. With Ron covered in the cloak, too, they had to walk much more slowly the next night. They tried retracing Harry's route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.**

"And no one found you? Unbelievable," said Severus to Harry who was still snuggled into him.

**"I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back."**

**"No!" Harry hissed. I know it's here somewhere."**

**They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour.**

**"It's here - just here - yes!"**

**They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror.**

**There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him.**

**"See?" Harry whispered.**

**"I can't see anything."**

**"Look! Look at them all... there are loads of them..."**

**"I can only see you."**

**"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."**

**Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pyjamas.**

**Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.**

**"Look at me!" he said.**

**"Can you see all your family standing around you?"**

**"No - I'm alone - but I'm different - I look older - and I'm head boy!"**

Poppy shook her head: "This wish makes Ronald look rather shallow."

**"What?"**

**"I am - I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to - and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup - I'm Quidditch captain, too.**

"Must be really hard, being the last of six boys."

**Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.**

**"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"**

**"How can it? All my family are dead - let me have another look -"**

**"You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."**

**"You're only holding the Quidditch cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents."**

Harry winced. The mirror didn't bring out the good in people.

**"Don't push me -"**

**A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking.**

**"Quick!"**

**Ron threw the cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Ron and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing - did the cloak work on cats? **

"It does, but not on your smell," said Albus wisely.

**After what seemed an age, she turned and left.**

**"This isn't safe - she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on."**

**And Ron pulled Harry out of the room.**

**The snow still hadn't melted the next morning.**

**"Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron.**

**"No."**

**"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"**

**"No... you go..."**

**"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight."**

**"Why not?"**

**"I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it - and anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"**

"Mr. Weasley has a good gut feeling there. I hope you adherred to it" spoke Pomona sternly.

**"You sound like Hermione."**

**"I'm serious, Harry, don't go."**

**But Harry only had one thought in his head, which was to get back in front of the mirror, and Ron wasn't going to stop him.**

Some sighed and Harry looked sheepishly at his hands.

**That third night he found his way more quickly than before. He was walking so fast he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but he didn't meet anyone.**

**And there were his mother and father smiling at him again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. There was nothing to stop him from staying here all night with his family. Nothing at all.**

**Except -**

**"So - back again, Harry?"**

**Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice. He looked behind him. Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was none other than Albus Dumbledore. **

"Oh Albus. Couldn't you talk to him during the day?" grumped Minerva.

**Harry must have walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror he hadn't noticed him.**

"**- I didn't see you, sir."**

"Haha, good reaction, Harry," commended Filius.

**"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see that he was smiling.**

**"So," said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Harry, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."**

**"I didn't know it was called that, Sir."**

**"But I expect you've realized by now what it does?"**

**"It - well - it shows me my family -"**

**"And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy."**

**"How did you know -?"**

**"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently.**

"You knew that long and didmn't deem it necessary to talk to him? He was just a first year. And this...this thing made him emotionally vulnerable!" ranted Poppy.

Albus didn't know what to say, looking back it wasn't the best solution.

**"Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"**

**Harry shook his head.**

**"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"**

**Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want... whatever we want..."**

**"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. **

**"It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. **

**However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.**

**"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. **

**It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. **

**Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"**

**Harry stood up.**

**"Sir - Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?"**

**"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."**

**"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"**

"Harry!"

**"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."**

**Harry stared.**

**"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."**

"You could have said something, Headmaster," Severus said with laughing eyes. He had jsut the idea for next Christmas.

Albus didn't know to be scared or expectant.

**It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. But then, he thought, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question.**

Minerva nodded: "That it was."

"I'm sorry," said Harry.

"It's alright, Harry. So who would like to read next?"

Poppy: "I would." And opened the book.

Harry interrupted before she could start: "Can we do something else for a short while? Just for a bit?"

Pomona was sorry for the young boy for whom just listening for the whole day must be boring and exhausting emotionally: "What would you like to do? Shall we play a game?"

Albus eyes twinkled and together with Harry he said: "Yes, that would be great!"

AN: Thank you for all your reviews. I'm sorry it took me so long. I never wanted to pause for... nearly a year! Time flies just too fast.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have fun reading.

Your Alena


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